


What Did I Do...?

by nightshade_19



Series: Sad Setter Stories [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: "Epilogue", Angst, Child Abuse, Denial, Happy ending - I swear, Homophobia, M/M, Overprotective Suga, cool senpai, kicked out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-06-07 09:13:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 36
Words: 72,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6797977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightshade_19/pseuds/nightshade_19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hinata just thinks that Kageyama needs to be more friendly with people. Kageyama is concerned that Hinata is trying to be more than friendly. Really concerned. But what would be so bad about that anyway?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Should Just Touch Him More!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is the first fic I've written, so I'm sorry if any of it (or all of it) is awkward, or hard to follow, or just plain crappy. I really love the Haikyuu fandom and have been reading fanfiction here for a while now and always really wanted to try it. I love all the different kinds of stories here, but I especially love the angsty ones, so I wanted to give that a go. Here is the start of something I've been thinking about for a little while now, I'm not sure if anyone will like it, but I hope someone does :)
> 
> nightshade

                It had been a few months now, and Hinata was feeling great. He was finally on a proper volleyball team, with a setter and an ace and everything. All of them were such amazing people too (okay, maybe not Tsukishima so much), even the third years would hang out with them sometimes and buy them pork buns if they’d worked particularly hard at practice that day, which for Hinata was everyday. They were all friends, right? And Hinata wasn't afraid to show it.

                Now Hinata knew he was a bit of a touchy-feely person (maybe more than a bit), but he’d never really had any problems with it before. He would high-five Nishinoya every time he made a nice receive, and he’d let Tanaka pick him up whenever he made a really cool spike. Even the third years would pat him on the back, or ruffle his hair whenever they praised him. Kageyama was another story. Although Hinata felt like they’d gotten over any real issues between them, their arguments and competitions more good-natured banter than anything hurtful, Kageyama still did not seem like the kind of person who’d appreciate a high-five, or a pat on the back. For the most part Hinata respected that, but like he said, Hinata was a bot of a touchy-feely person.

                “Nice receive Noya-san!” Tanaka bellowed as Nishinoya sent the ball flying back up into the air, back over the net.

                “Chance ball!” Asahi called, as Daichi darted into position, sending the ball over to Kageyama. The setter could already tell Hinata had begun sprinting towards the net, and had already jumped by the time he felt the ball touch his waiting fingers. He immediately shot the ball with pinpoint accuracy to Hinata’s sweeping hand, the spike hitting the ground centimetres from Nishinoya’s outstretched hand.

                “Yeah!” Hinata and Kageyama shouted, the others behind them celebrating the winning point of the practice match. Too busy to notice Hinata jumping on Kageyama’s back, hugging him from behind, still celebrating, only for Kageyama to stiffen immediately before half throwing Hinata off. Hinata tried to brush it off as he went over to celebrate with the others and console Nishinoya, trying not to notice Kageyama slinking off the court in a hurry. _I know he doesn’t really like being all touchy and stuff_ , Hinata thought, _but is it really that uncomfortable_.

                By the time Hinata gets to the club room to change out of his volleyball uniform, Kageyama is already gone. _I guess Kageyama didn't really have any friends in middle school_ , Hinata thinks, still pondering Kageyama’s aversion to contact, _Maybe he’s just not used to it and doesn't know what to do!_ With that, Hinata decides that he’s going to try doing more things like high-fiving and back-patting with Kageyama from now on, so that he can learn how to be more friendly.

               

********

 

                The team notices Kageyama as been a lot more irritable the past few days, a fact which becomes all the more apparent whenever Hinata enters the room. Despite taking every opportunity he can find to pat Kageyama on the shoulder, or try to get him to high five, or even just walk next to him, Hinata can’t seem to figure out why Kageyama just keeps shying away more and more. Honestly he’s starting to feel insulted. Every single time he reaches out to touch him, Kageyama stiffens and pulls back. Whenever they happen to brush past one another, Kageyama recoils like he’s been burnt. Hell, Kageyama even let a ball hit the floor just because it looked like Hinata was trying to get it too and, heavens forbid, they might have touched.

                _I mean really_ , Hinata thinks, grumbling away to himself while cleaning up after practice, _What’s so bad about a little friendly pat on the back? Do I smell or something?_ Taking a not-so-subtle sniff off his armpit right after playing volleyball for an hour and a half was probably not the best idea.

                “Well you smell bad too, Bakageyama!” Hinata suddenly shouts to a mystified, and slightly pissed Kageyama on the other side of the court. Hearing Tsukishima and Yamaguchi giggling in the corner causes Hinata’s cheeks to start heating up, so he hurriedly goes back to putting balls into the cart.

                By the time he’s finished clearing up, Hinata can’t feel an embarrassed blush on his face anymore, so he deems it safe to go to the club room to change and get his stuff. When he gets there Tanaka and Nishinoya are fooling around on the walkway out front, reminiscing about Kiyoko by the sounds of it, causing Hinata to giggle a little at his senpai as he walks past to go inside. Kageyama is the only one still in there, currently struggling to pull his volleyball shirt off of his head.

                “Having trouble, Bakageyama?” Hinata jokes, patting Kageyama on the back, his skin still warm despite the cooling sweat. Kageyama suddenly stumbles and falls to the ground, “Hey, are you alright?” Hinata asks, slightly panicking, _What if he twisted his ankle? He won’t be able to play volleyball! It’ll be all my fault for pushing him!_ Kageyama pulls his shirt back down, scuffling back, away from Hinata,

                “Stop touching me like that!” he yells, “Just leave me alone!” Kageyama grabs his bag and leaves in a hurry, not even bothering to change clothes any more.

                “What the hell?!” Hinata complains, kicking the wall, “What did I even do...?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Constructive criticism is welcomed. Also if you'd like to read more please do tell me, I have all kinds of ideas for how this can play out. I know it seems like a really short intro (less than 1k words!) but I guess I just wanted to test the waters before writing a whole bunch more. Just so you know I plan for it to be angsty (really angsty), there will be breaking down into tears, there will be homophobic parents, there will be Sugamama.
> 
> x  
> nightshade


	2. I Won't Give Up!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,
> 
> Oh my god, I was so surprised when I woke up the day after posting the first chapter to find people had already started giving me kudos and comments! I can't tell you how happy it makes me to think other people are actually interested in my crazy ideas. Here's the next chapter, it was going to be longer but I really wanted to post again. I'm not sure whether I'm going to post as shorter chapters more frequently or wait to post as longer chapters. Either way I want to try and update relatively frequently, probably one or two times a week.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! (prepare for feels (hopefully))

            Kageyama is even more irritable than usual the next morning, getting on everyone’s nerves. Also apparent are his attempts to blatantly ignore Hinata’s existence, and when he flat out walks away from Hinata’s request to pair up during stretches Sugawara decides to intervene.

            “Hinata?” Sugawara beckons, drawing the boy over to him as the others start stretching, Kageyama having since paired up with a terrified looking Asahi. “Is everything alright between you and Kageyama?”

            “W-what do you mean?” Hinata asks, his attempt to play it cool ruined by the shocked stutter.

            “He’s been acting grouchier than usual today,” Sugawara starts, as they both sit down on the floor, feet meeting in the middle, “Not to mention he completely ignored you earlier. I know you two are normally arguing about something, but it normally involves a lot more yelling”

            “Oh, that…” Hinata says, grabbing Sugawara’s hands and pulling him forward before letting himself be pulled back, “He’s probably just sulking. I beat him to the club room today, so now I’m three points ahead,” A proud grin spreads across his face, “I mean, I don’t see why he’s so sad about it, I’m obviously way faster than him. He only wins by cheating!”

            “Okay, okay,” Sugawara chuckles, “As long as it’s nothing serious, make sure to stretch your legs properly - you don’t want to hurt yourself jumping today.” Getting up, Sugawara walks back over to Daichi, who’s just finished stretching and is now trying to break up calm down an on-edge Asahi.

            As soon as Sugawara’s back is turned, Hinata slumps forward sighing, _Stupid Bakageyama, why are you so mean? That’s why I’m your only friend, and now you don’t even want to be friends with me._ Trying not to look to disheartened, Hinata finished stretching, making sure to stretch his legs twice as much after getting a side-eye from Sugawara when he tried to go join Nishinoya and Tanaka doing receiving practice at the other end of the gym.

            By the end of practice Hinata has got a bounce back in his step, and he notices Kageyama doesn’t seem as gloomy either. _Well at least he still likes volleyball_ , Hinata thinks to himself as he walks to class, _I guess he can’t be that horrible a person_.

 

********

 

            “Ughh, finally!” Matsuo groans, “Maths must be some sort of torture, right?”

            “What do I even need to know maths for anyway?” Hinata grumbled, putting away his pencils and wiping the excessive amount of eraser shavings off onto the floor, “It’s not like I need to know about parabellums to play volleyball!” [Hinata, Hinata, my sweet stupid child]

            “You mean parabolas?” Matsuo snorted, “Even I’m not that bad!”

            “Shut up!” Hinata shouted, ears almost the same colour as his hair. He started pulling out his bento for lunch.

            “Is Grumpy-kun sick or something?” Matsuo asked

            “What?”

            “Well, normally you eat lunch with him,” he explained, “Either that or you scarf it down as fast as you can before running of to practice hitting the ball with him.”

            “I don’t have to eat lunch with Kageyama if I don’t want to,” Hinata huffed, not wanting to admit that he still didn’t know what to say if he were to go have lunch with Kageyama, or if the boy would even let Hinata have lunch with him.

            “Why don’t you come have lunch with us then?” Matsuo says, pulling a bento of his own out from his bag, “Me and some of the other soccer guys are gonna go watch the girls track team practice – some of the third years are really hot!”

            “Okay,” Hinata says, accepting the invite, thankful that he won’t have to eat lunch in the classroom by himself. He grabs his bento and follows Matsuo out into the hall and the make their way outside.

            On their way to meet up with the boys from the other classes, Hinata notices Kageyama sitting over outside the gym eating lunch. Already done with his milk (and probably already thinking about getting another one) he’s sitting in the shadow of the tall building eating his bento quietly. There isn’t anyone else there and Hinata finds it a little sad.

            _I know I was probably his only friend-friend_ , Hinata thinks to himself as he follows after Matsuo, Kageyama never even looking up to notice Hinata go past, _But I thought he would still speak to some of the guys in his class or something. Am I really the only person he talks to outside of volleyball?_

            When they get to the other boys, who are already fiercely watching the third year girls stretching, Hinata has started to feel kind of bad for making Kageyama so angry, even though he’s still not entirely sure what it was he did wrong.

            “Pwah, look at Sakamoto-senpai! She’s so pretty!” one of the boys exclaimed as the girls ran past the edge of the field where the group was sitting, bentos largely ignored.

            “No way, Akamura-chan is way prettier!” another argued, soon starting a debate over which of the girls was prettiest. _I wonder if any of these guys are in Kageyama’s class, why doesn’t he just eat lunch with them or something. He could atleast eat in the classroom, there’s always people who hang around inside during lunch._

            “Do any of you know Kageyama?” Hinata interjected suddenly, still worrying about the lonely looking boy and apparently not paying any attention to the conversation around him as he absent-mindedly picked as his bento.

            “Kageyama? Who’s she?”

            “Yeah, I don’t think I know who she is”

            “What?!” Hinata jumped, not realizing he’d spoken aloud, “Oh, no, Kageyama’s a boy in class 1-3,” he explained, “I was just wondering if any of you were friends with him”

            “Kageyama?” one of the boys asked, a puzzled expression on his face, “I’m in 1-3 and I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard of a Kageyama”

            “Oh wait, isn’t he that rude guy in the back?”

            “Oh him, no I don’t even talk to him anymore, all he does is glare at you until you go away”

            “Does anyone talk to him?” Hinata asked, his fears slowly being confirmed, _Oh my god, I really was Kageyama’s only friend. If that’s true though, then why is he avoiding me?_

            “I remember at the start of the year, a few of us tried to talk to him or invite him to have lunch with us,” one of the boys started, the one on the end with the snaggly tooth that took Hinata a good five seconds to stop staring at and focus on what he was saying, “But every time we went up to him he would just say rude things like ‘You’re too loud’, or ‘Stop talking about boring things’”

            “Either that, or he’d just spend the whole time glaring at you with this creepy look on his face,” one of the others added, “Eventually we just stopped, I mean I tried to be nice to him but I’m not going to put up with someone like that”

            “It didn’t really matter anyway,” Snaggly-tooth said, “After the first few weeks he just started leaving as soon as lunch started, and he never showed up for class until just before it began, so we don’t really see him that much anymore anyways”

            “Good thing too, that face he made everytime I spoke to him was creepy,” one of the boys laughed, soon they were all giggling trying to pull the face he made. It was quickly apparent to Hinata exactly what face Kageyama had been pulling, _That’s his smiling face_ , he thought sadly, _I bet he thought he was going to make friends now that he’d started at a new school_.

            The warning bell rang soon enough, and the group of boys started packing up their bentos and shuffling back towards class. When they walked past the gym, Hinata looked to where Kageyama had been sitting before, but the spot was empty now. _I don’t care if he’s avoiding me!_ Hinata resolved, _Even Kageyama deserves to have a friend, I won’t give up!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading
> 
> nightshade


	3. Gross?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hi,
> 
> Here's the next chapter of the fic, I hope you all like it. I had a sort of plan of the plot I wrote out before I started writing, I went back to it today and realised I'm only about three lines in - the whole thing's over two pages long. So this might take a while. Because of that I hope it doesn't seem too slow, I actually think I might kind of be speeding through it a bit because stuff's about to go down. Next chapter is probably going to be Hinata being sad, but then after that - BAM! Or at least I hope it will be that good.
> 
> Anyways thanks for reading, the kudos are uber appreciated and I re-read all of the comments before I start writing because they give me the feels.
> 
> nightshade

               _All right,_ Hinata thought as he rushed out of his classroom, even more eager to get to volleyball practice than normal, _How do I get Kageyama to like me again? Wait, why did he stop liking me?_ Hinata paused midway through his dash to the gym as he struggled to remember what it was that he’d actually done, causing a one of the second year girls to almost run into him from behind. Ignoring the tittering laughs of the girls as they walked around him, his face contorted in thought until he felt a hand clap down on his shoulder.

                “Yo, Hinata, you need to go to the toilet or somethin’?” Tanaka asked from behind, on his way to practice with Nishinoya.

                “That’s it!” Hinata exclaimed, the hand on his shoulder reminding him of his earlier plan, _He kept getting all weird and moody when I kept trying to touch him. RUDE! I WAS ONLY BEING FRIENDLY! Only Kageyama would get angry by someone being friendly._ Hinata continued off down the hall at breakneck speed, angrily muttering under his breath.

                “Well don’t be too long, or Daichi-san will get mad!” Tanaka called after him, Nishinoya cackling away at his kouhei’s apparent desperation to use the bathroom.

                When Hinata got to the clubroom, Sugawara was the only there, Daichi already having gone to the gym to talk with Coach Ukai, and the others having yet to arrive. Leaning against the railing to catch his breath, Hinata heard a call from below to see Matsuo and a few of the other boys from lunch waving,

                “See you Hinata,” Matsuo called, Hinata tiredly waving back in reply, “Come have lunch with us tomorrow too – it’s got to be better then spending the whole break with Grumpy-kun!”. Hinata kept waving while he watched the boys walk off towards the school gates to go home.

                “Grumpy-kun?” Sugawara asked, having finished changing already, “Who’s that?”

                “Oh, they just mean Kageyama,” Hinata replied, putting a grin on his face as he turned to face his senpai.

                “They’re not teasing him are they?” Sugawara asked, suddenly concerned, his motherly instincts as vice-captain kicking in.

                “No no, not really,” Hinata assured him, “It’s just a stupid nickname”

                “Okay, but tell me if they start bullying him,” Sugawara warned, “Kageyama may seem tough, but I don’t think he’d handle something like that very well, especially after what happened last year with his old volleyball team”

                “Mhmm,” Hinata mumbled affirmitively, the grin on his face smiling as thought of Kageyama sitting alone at lunch seeped into his head.

                “Don’t worry,” Sugawara said reassuringly, noting Hinata’s drop in mood, “He’s got good friends like you, so I’m sure it’ll be fine. Just me worrying after my kouhei!” Sugawara laughed light-heartedly and went off to practice, the others coming up the stairs after he’d gone, moving to get changed.

                _But I was his only friend_ , Hinata thought guiltily as he moved to go change with the others, _And now he won’t even talk to me_. Hinata kept looking over at Kageyama despondently, until Kageyama turned around and glared at him,

                “What do you want, dumbass!” he snipped,

                “Toss the ball to me at practice!” Hinata responded eagerly, cheered by the hope that if Kageyama was speaking to him again, then maybe being friends again would be easier than he’d first thought. Kageyama’s ears started to turn red at Hinata’s unabashed enthusiasm,

                “Whatever,” he mumbled under his breath, “It’s not like I wasn’t going to anyway”

 

*******

                It had only been a few days, but Hinata had missed that glorious sting of one of Kageyama's special tosses, the fading red of his palms reflective of the same warmth that flooded his chest. He still couldn't quite get used to the idea of having his own setter, who could toss the ball just for him and losing that, even for such a short time, had gotten to Hinata more than he’d realised.

                The dynamic between the two first years was still a little awkward, but it appeared that the two had started to get over the crux orf their latest little quarrel, so the rest of the team seemed content to let them be. Hinata, despite his tentative hopefulness, was not quite ready to believe that Kageyama was so quick to forgive. Remembering what had started all of this in the first place, he took special care to not touch Kageyama, on or off the court.

 _I don’t get it at all_ , Hinata thought, _Nishinoya-senpai and Tanaka-senpai are always half-tackling each other. Even Tsukishima occasionally bumps shoulders with Yamaguchi, he even patted his head once when he thought no one was looking. But if Kageyama hates it so much I probably shouldn't do it – even if it is weird and stupid._

                “I guess Kageyama is weird and stupid,” Hinata mumbled, seemingly resolving his question himself, oblivious to Tsukishima and Tanaka behind him attempting to stifle their laughs. After getting a drink and a quick breather, they soon moved back on to the court to continue practice. Hinata dashed back and forth across the court, jumping as high as he could, for the rest of the match. Thankfully, Hinata managed to avoid any incidents with Kageyama for the entire practice, so although the walk back to the club room was quiet, Hinata put it down to exhaustion rather than the cold shoulder.

                “Hey Hinata, great job today, your jumps were amazing!” Nishinoya said,  jumping up and down in what was supposedly a dramatic re-enactment of the earlier match. Hinata, Nishinoya, Tanaka and Kageyama were the only ones left, the others having gone home already (also, Nishinoya and Tanaka had had to stay behind for extra cleaning as punishment for being too rambunctious during practice again).

                “Nishinoya-senpai, I wish I could receive like you,” Hinata gushed to the preening second year, “The way you saved all those balls like GWOOSH SWASH BLAM!”

                Hinata began pretending to spike balls at Nishinoya, who swung around, receiving the imaginary spikes in a flashy fashion. Tanaka stood to the side oohing and ahhing appropriately at the dramatics while Kageyama packed away his things quietly in the corner, largely unnoticed by the other three by this point. As Nishinoya suddenly rolled forward in his display of skill, he rolled to far, knocking Hinata back causing him to collapse onto Kageyama, knocking them both to the ground.

                Kageyama looked up at the small boy half-sprawled over him, dazed for a moment before pushing him off violently,

                “Don’t touch me,” he hissed, “It’s gross”

                “Gross?” Hinata said, puzzled as he sat up from where Kageyama had pushed him. Nishinoya and Tanaka in the meanwhile, satisfied that neither of their kouhei were hurt, continued on with their dramatics, Tanaka having now taken Hinata’s place. “But I just changed, anyways you’re way sweatier than I am!”

                “Just leave me alone,” Kageyama said as he hurriedly gathered up his things, “Why’d you have to be so disgusting?” Kageyama rushes out of the room, pushing past Nishinoya and Tanaka, clearly having no problems touching them.

                “What...?” Hinata mumbles to himself, still not entirely sure what just happened, but sure enough that Kageyama thinks that he’s gross for some reason, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

                He slowly goes over to his bag to get his stuff, now ignoring his noisy senpai. In his head all he can think about is Kageyama calling him gross and disgusting over and over again, making him feel worse and worse. Later that night, already in bed, Hinata his huddled up under his blankets, still thinking about what Kageyama said.

                “I don’t want to be gross,” he whispers into his pillow, trying to quash down the rising sadness that bubbling up from his chest.


	4. Why Does Everyone Hate Me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,  
> I'm probably going to by busy for the next couple of days, so I'm not entirely sure when I'll be able to get the next chapter out (I'm aiming for Friday/Saturday). Here is Chapter 4, nice and long to hopefully tide you over (Even have a brief Suga POV). Hinata is getting way darker than I thought he would, I mean Kageyama's going to have a dark backstory, but Hinata sort of got away from me. Oh well, I hope you like it. All the kudos and comments give me life, thanks so much,
> 
> nightshade

                Yawning loudly, Hinata struggled to sit up straight at his desk, noticing his teacher give him a stern look. He really didn’t want to get yelled at for dozing off again. He’d hardly slept at all last night, Kageyama’s words whispering in his head every time he shut his eyes, tossing and turning until he had to get out of bed to untangle the covers before getting back in to start the whole thing over again.

                _Why do I even care?_ Hinata thought defiantly, _So what if Kageyama doesn’t like me, he’s stupid and mean anyway._ Hinata sighed softly, narrowly avoiding another glare from the teacher, _He’s not though, he’s really good at volleyball, and he’s not always mean. But still, why do I care so much? It’s not like everyone has to like me, people haven’t liked me before. Of course, normally I don’t like them either, so I guess I wouldn’t care then_.

                And so Hinata spent the whole morning trying to stay awake, the thoughts in his head in turmoil and not paying attention to a single thing the teacher said. By the time lunch came, a lump had formed in Hinata’s stomach and he wasn’t feeling particularly hungry. Half-asleep, he didn’t notice Matsuo come up to his desk,

                “Hey Hinata,” he asked, snapping Hinata to attention, “You want to have lunch with us today?”

                “No thanks,” Hinata replied forlornly, “Not today,”

                “You’re not waiting for Grumpy-kun are you?” Matsuo asked, “’Cause I heard he had to stay back to finish some homework he left at home”. Hinata laughed slightly, thinking of a flustered Kageyama, rifling through bag looking for homework that wasn’t there, a couple extra wrinkles forming between his brows.

                “No, I think I’m just gonna sleep for a bit, I don’t want to get yelled at again for falling asleep in class”

                “Well, okay then,” Matsuo said, looking a little concerned as he noticed how tired Hinata was, “Some other time then”

                “Sure,” Hinata answered, before laying his head in his arms, falling asleep almost immediately to the soft murmur of voices of people chatting on the other side of the room. After closing his eyes it didn’t take long for Hinata to start hearing things again, just Kageyama at first, but soon the murmuring voices from the class began to join along, saying all sorts of horrible things about him. _Do they all think that?_ Hinata wondered, tormented by the voiced in his dream, _Do they all secretly think I’m gross and horrible, and they all secretly hate me? Maybe Kageyama’s the only one who ever actually said anything, but they’re all thinking it aren’t they?!_

                Hinata woke up just as class was about to begin, woken by the noise of people coming back in and sitting down at their desks. The voices from his nightmare, still taunting him and, despite having rested for a bit, he felt even more tired than before he’d gone to sleep. Now, looking around the class, Hinata couldn’t help but wonder what his classmates thought of him, did they really hate him, find him disgusting? Maybe they were only nice to him out of pity, or so they could laugh about it behind his back? His stomach began to ache, a combination of his spiralling thoughts and missing out both lunch and breakfast (his appetite that morning had been non-existent after his sleepless night). As the teacher walked in, he weakly shoved his hand in the air,

                “Yes, Hinata-kun?” the familiar voice asked, _Oh right, I have Japanese now_ , Hinata’s foggy mind recalled.

                “Can I please go to the nurse’s office, Takeda-sensei?” Hinata asked anxiously.

                “We’ve only just come back from lunch Hinata-kun,” Takeda replied before looking up to properly look at his student, seeing how much paler the boy looked than normal he continued, “But you do look quite pale, do you need someone to take you?”

                “N-no, it’s fine, I’ll go,” Hinata assured before, quickly leaving the room. He kept walking down the hall towards the nurse’s office, thankful Takeda hadn’t made one of the other students take him, cringing at the idea of having one of them act all concerned when he knew deep down they probably hated him.

                Once he got to the nurse’s office there was no one there, so he let himself in and went over to lay down on one of the beds in the back, hoping he could just go to sleep for a little bit. _I need to rest or else I won’t be able to stay awake during practice this afternoon_.

 

*******

 

                Hinata’s nightmares had if anything gotten worse. Now his classmates’ voices joined Kageyama’s in sneering at him while he slept, Kageyama’s still the loudest and most hurtful of all of them. He’d managed to get through yesterday’s afternoon practice after getting some sleep in the nurse’s office, but it hadn’t been enough and now, with another restless night, he was going to struggle to get through this morning’s practice without falling asleep.

                Thankfully when he got there he found that they weren’t playing a practice game this morning, instead just doing drills and some personal practice. It was repetitive enough that Hinata was able to power through it without too much trouble, but he lacked his normal energy and enthusiasm. Thankfully, no one seemed to question him (he wasn’t exactly the first person to come to morning practice still half asleep). Although Takeda did give him the odd look or too, he didn’t end up saying anything, so Hinata figured he must have told Coach Ukai and Daichi that he’d been ‘sick’ yesterday, so they probably thought he was just getting back on his feet or something.

                Class was yet again an ordeal, and not just because it was maths. Every moment was a struggle to keep his eyes open, and the teacher’s droning voice wasn’t exactly helping matters, but every time he heard someone behind him giggle, or whisper something, he couldn’t help but feel self-conscious, worrying that they were talking about him.

                As lunch grew closer, Hinata had had it. _Why does Kageyama hate me? Does everyone else think I’m gross too, but just won’t say anything? I have to get Kageyama to tell me what’s wrong, how am I supposed to fix it if I don’t know what’s wrong?_ When the teacher called an end to the class, Hinata made his move, rushing out the door fuelled by his new sense of determination. _I’m sick of this, I hate it. Why is everyone lying to me, laughing at me behind my back?_

                Soon his goal was within sights, the vending machine near the gym, the only one with Kageyama’s milk in it. There still weren’t many people around yet, so Hinata figured that Kageyama probably hadn’t had time to get his milk yet. He settled down next to the machine, waiting for Kageyama to show up. The vibrating warmth spread across his back from where he leant against it, soon weighing down his eyelids, determination vanishing before the sudden wave of drowsiness.

                A loud clinking noise next to his ear startled him awake. He wasn’t sure if he’d only closed his eyes a few moments or a few hours, but people were still milling around so he figured it was still lunch. Another metallic clink drew his focus, and he looked around the corner of the machine to see Kageyama slipping his coins into the slot methodically.

                “Kageyama!” Hinata shouted, suddenly recalling his plan. The taller boy startled, looking wide-eyed as Hinata scrabbled to his feet. “You have to tell me!” Hinata begged, grabbing a hold of Kageyama’s shirt, tugging on it desperately, “Please, you have to tell me what I did wrong”

                “Get off me!” Kageyama yelled, trying to pull Hinata’s small hands off of his shirt, “I can’t believe you tricked me like this, what’s wrong with you?!”. Finally managing to pry his shirt from Hinata’s grip, he started running off,

                “Wait!” Hinata called after him, half stumbling in his still drowsy state, “Wait… you left your milk”

                Hinata stumbled towards the gym, tears starting to blur his eyes, _Why? What did I do?_ , a few tears slowly started running down his face and he started sniffing softly, _I don’t know what to do…_ Wandering over to the back of the gym, Hinata curled up behind a trolley of balls that had been left out from the morning practice, willing his tears to stop so he could go back to class. Eventually, he slid down onto his side, still curled up into a ball, and fell asleep, eager to let the empty darkness purge his muddled head of all his worries.

                He wasn’t sure when, but at some point he could hear voices at the very edge of the darkness, he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but eventually they grew louder and he recognised them as the people on his team. As he began to distinguish the voices he started to hear them saying his name a few times, first Sugawara and Daichi, then Coach Ukai, and then he heard Kageyama for a bit. _Why are they talking about me?_ Hinata thought, _Oh no!_ he began to worry, _not them too! I knew Kageyama hated me, but do the others think I’m gross too, even Sugawara-san, and Takeda-sensei? Is that what Kageyama’s telling them, telling them about how I’m gross and horrible and that they shouldn’t like me anymore? Will they make me stop playing volleyball?_

                Suddenly, pain blasted through his skull and he cried out,

                “What was that?” he heard Asahi call,

                “Oohh, maybe it was a ghost!” Nishinoya said, trying to spook the third year,

                “Yeah, didn’t you know that the gym was haunted Asahi-san?” Tanaka joined in.

                “Oi! Stop that,” Daichi reprimanded as he jogged over to the back of the gym where the foul ball had gone, “Hinata?!” he exclaimed, finding the boy cradling his head behind the trolley of balls.

                “Hinata?” Sugawara asked, coming over to see the boy, “What are you doing there, we thought you’d gone home early or something?

                “Sorry Sugawara-san,” Hinata apologised, the pain in his head receding, “I must’ve fallen asleep”

                “When, oh never mind,” Sugawara said, ushering the boy over to the other side of the gym, “Are you alright, you don’t have a concussion or something do you?”

                “No, I’m fine, really”,” Hinata assured him, suddenly aware of the rest of the team looking at him with emotions ranging from confusion, to concern, to apathy (Tsukishima). Worried about what he’d overheard while he was sleeping, Hinata started feeling anxious about their stares, wondering what they were thinking.

                “Well maybe you should just go home for today,” Sugawara said calmingly, “Even you can only take so many volleyballs to the face,” he laughed lightly as he took Hinata back to his class to get his things before making sure he was alright going home.

                Getting home after riding across the mountain, Hinata was exhausted. He went straight upstairs and flopped back onto his bed, not bothering to change, and just fell asleep.

*******

 

                Sugawara was concerned about Hinata, he hadn’t been himself the past couple of days. At practice he seemed to lack some of the over-the-top energy and enthusiasm he normally possessed, and the energy he did have seemed to be increasingly forced, the faint circles under his eyes suggesting a streak of restless nights, especially after they’d found him asleep in the gym yesterday afternoon.

                What finally got Sugawara to say something though was something Asahi had said. The other day, during lunch when Asahi had gone to use the bathroom, he’d walked past Hinata’s class to see him asleep at his desk while the rest of the students kept to the other side of the room so as not to disturb him. When asked about it, one of the girls managed to stutter something about him having dozed of a half dozen times in class that morning and getting scolded by the teacher before her courage gave out and she ran off from the intimidating third year back to a her cluster of friends.

                “Hinata!” Sugawara called midway through the morning practice, “I want to talk to you about something”

                “Yes, Sugawara-san?” Hinata asked, a smile stretched a bit too wide across his face.

                “Are you okay? You look like you haven’t been sleeping well,”

                “Ahh!” Hinata started, “It’s nothing, uh, I just stayed up too late playing video games. I promise it won’t happen again”

                “Mhmm, okay,” Sugawara said, not really buying it, “I think you should sit out the rest of this morning’s practice though. You look tired enough already and I don’t want you falling asleep in class again”

                “What! How’d you know about that?!” Hinata asked.

                “I’m your senpai, I know all kinds of things,” Sugawara said, looking at Hinata pointedly.

                “Okay, I’ll sit out today, I’m sorry,” Hinata conceded, “But I can still play this afternoon though, can’t I?”

                “I guess,” Sugawara sighed, not being able to say no to the desperate look in Hinata’s eyes that had appeared the moment the idea of not playing volleyball had entered his head, “But only if you promise to tell me if you have trouble sleeping again,”

                “Uhm...” Hinata paused, suddenly reticent to Sugawara’s surprise, “Okay,” he said suddenly before running off without looking his senpai in the eye. Before Sugawara could chase after the boy, Daichi called out for him to hurry up and get ready for spiking practice. _I wonder what secret Hinata has that he’d be willing to give up a chance to play volleyball over?_ , Sugawara thought as he jogged over to begin setting balls with Kageyama for the other players to spike.

 

*******

 

 _They hate me._ Hinata thought, depressed as he sat on the side of the court, legs hugged close to his chest and his forehead rested on his knees, eyes clenched shut. _Kageyama told them and now they hate me, even Sugawara-san. They don’t want me to play volleyball with them anymore, they sent me home early yesterday and now that won’t let me play either._

                Hinata looked up, opening his eyes to see the rest of the team running up to the net, spiking balls as Sugawara and Kageyama tossed for them. _They don’t need me at all, they’re all already so good. They probably only let me on the team out of pity._ Tears began to fog Hinata’s vision, not wanting his team mates to see, he got up and went back to the club room, not bothering to change back into his uniform. He went into the corner of the room and curled back into a ball, crying silently.


	5. I Won't Try To Be Your Friend Anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello,
> 
> Sorry again about the wait, but here is chapter 5. Things start hitting the fan when Kageyama finally out and out says it (TW: homophobic slurs *o* ) Angst for all! I hope you guys like it, I've certainly come to enjoy writing this story, even though I do often feel I'm not doing it justice.
> 
> Thanks for reading, comments and kudos much appreciated,  
> nightshade

                Tears trickled down Hinata’s face, wetting his knees as he clutched his legs to his chest even harder. A mixture of fear, despair and exhaustion spurred them onwards, flowing freely as quiet sobs began to escape from the small boy’s fragile looking body in the dimly lit room. His eyes, red and swollen, were clenched shut and he took no notice of the slowly growing light as the sun gradually rose. The sound of the door opening was what finally opened his eyes, the fuzzy silhouette of Kageyama standing in the doorway barely getting a reaction out of him at this point.

                “What the hell are you doing?!” Kageyama shouted, storming into the room. Hinata just looked up at his approaching face, no longer able to find the energy even to cry anymore. “You leave practice early to come here, to do what?! Were you gonna try an ambush me again?! You better not have been touching any of my stuff!”

                “’M sorry, I’m sorry Kageyama. Please, I’m sorry,” Hinata began mumbling as Kageyama came towards him,

                “What’s wrong with you, why won’t you just leave me alone?!” Kageyama cried, becoming more distressed as he kept going, not even looking at Hinata any more, just standing in the middle of the room, fists clenched and shouting. “I thought you were my friend, why’d you have keep being gross, keep making me feel gross, I hate you, you disgusting fag!”

                “Kageyama!” a deep voice bellowed from behind them. Daichi stepped into the room, Kageyama turning to face him, stunned for a moment by the sudden interruption of his explosion. The rest of the team could be heard mumbling outside, except for a Sugawara who was standing behind Daichi, staring absolute daggers at Kageyama. Hinata was still in the corner, barely registering the newcomers, sobbing apologies through a fresh surge of tears.

                Taken aback by the rage in his normally reserved senpai’s eyes, Kageyama took a step back, pointing at the sobbing boy as he sputtered,

                “W-what are you looking at me for? Hinata’s the fag! H-he’s been doing all kinds of gross… things! He’ll try and make you like him too if you don’t stop him!” Kageyama tried to explain, confidence wilting as Daichi stood his ground and Sugawara’s glare intensified. He started to get the feeling if it weren’t for the captain standing between them, Sugawara would be doing a lot more than glaring at him.

                “Out, now.” Daichi commanded, his booming voice leaving little room for argument.

                “B-but…” Kageyama tried weakly,

                “Out.”

                Kageyama hurried out of the room, grabbing his bag as he left, keeping as much space between him and the vice-captain as possible. Once outside he found himself up against a silent wall of his glowering team mates. Terrified and confused at the sudden ire of his team, he fled in a panic.

                Sugawara had since approached Hinata, who was still apologising between sobs in the corner, all hint of malice gone from his now kind and calming eyes. Daichi had stepped out of the room to handle the rest of the team and herd them back to the gym, so it was just Sugawara and Hinata left.

                “It’s okay Hinata,” Sugawara said as he knelt down beside Hinata, “Kageyama’s gone now, it’s alright”

                “I’m sorry,” Hinata whimpered, the flow of tears having slowed to a few drops, his reddened eyes trying not to meet the gaze of the vice-captain, “I’m sorry Sugawara-san”

                “Shh, it’s okay Hinata, what are you apologising for?” Sugawara asked softly

                “I’m sorry for being gross and disgusting and bad,” Hinata sniffled, “I’m sorry, please don’t hate me, I’m sorry”

                “Hinata,” Hinata’s head snapped up, fearful of the sudden sharpness in Sugawara’s voice, “I want you to listen to me. I don’t know what Kageyama might have said or done, but you haven’t done anything wrong. You’re not gross, or disgusting, or bad, and I definitely don’t hate you. If I hate anyone right now, it’s Kageyama for making you think those things”

                “No!” Hinata yelped, “No, don’t hate Kageyama! He didn’t do anything wrong,” he pleaded desperately to Sugawara, “He’s the only one who told me. Everyone else is just lying, and pretending to be nice to me”

                “Shh, Hinata, it’s okay,” Sugawara said, pulling the whimpering boy to his chest, “No one hates you, we all like you and want to be your friend”

                “And play volleyball?”

                “Yes, and play volleyball with you too,” Sugawara chuckled

                “… Even Kageyama?” Hinata asked quietly

                “Mmmm,” Sugawara sighed disapprovingly, “Don’t worry about Kageyama anymore, you don’t want to be friends with someone who would say those kinds of things to you”

                “But I want to be his friend,” Hinata yawned, the exhaustion of the past few days catching up to him again as he snuggled into Sugawara’s arms leaving a damp patch on his shirt, his steady heartbeat lulling him to sleep, “He doesn’t have any others,” he mumbles before falling asleep.

 

*******

 

                Takeda found the two an hour later, Hinata still curled up in Sugawara’s arms asleep. He’d come looking for Hinata when he hadn’t shown up for his first class, and after seeing the boy’s still red eyes and hearing what Sugawara had to say, he was happy to take Hinata to the nurse’s office again to sleep for a while longer.

                Takeda led Hinata by the hand to the nurse’s office after waving off Sugawara before he missed any more class time. Hinata was dead on his feet, barely even aware of what was happening and Takeda had to stop a few times to coax the boy to keep walking so he wouldn’t just lie down in the middle of the school. It was a few hours later that he woke up, disturbed by the sound of students walking around and chatting in the corridors after they’d been let out for lunch.

                Now unable to get back to sleep, Hinata lay awake in the bed for a few minutes, trying to figure out where he was and what had happened. It took a moment for him to remember Kageyama finding him in the club room and yelling at him. Then he vaguely recalled Sugawara was there, talking to him before he fell asleep. He couldn’t remember coming to the nurse’s office, but figured Sugawara or someone must’ve taken him there.

                He sat up in the bed, going over what had happened in his head. _Kageyama was angry with me again_ , he thought sullenly, _He said I was gross again, he said that he hated me_. Tears began welling in Hinata’s eyes, but refused to fall after having cried himself out earlier that morning. _But I remember Sugawara-san was saying he didn’t hate me, was he lying? I don’t get it, why would Sugawara-san lie after Kageyama had just said all that? Kageyama wouldn’t have said all that to begin with if it wasn’t true._

                The nurse found Hinata sitting up in the bed, awake and looking flustered. Hinata’s head shot up as she approached him,

                “Hello Hinata-kun,” she said, “If you’re feeling better now you should probably go have some lunch. You’ve already missed your morning classes, but you should go to the rest of your classes after lunch now that you’re up.”

                “Okay,” Hinata said meekly, slipping out of the bed and making his way out into the noisy corridor. He made his way back to the club room where he’d left all of his stuff, including his lunch, his stomach growling at the thought of food. His things were where he’d left them that morning, the club room now full of sunlight, looking just like it always did. He could almost imagine that that morning hadn’t happened, but seeing the spot where Kageyama normally dropped his bag soon reminded him that it had happened.

                Walking out of the club room, he made his way towards the stairs, hearing the sound of Tanaka’s voice as he approached the top of the stairwell.

                “What’s your problem, Kageyama?” Tanaka asked,

                “Yeah,” Hinata could hear Nishinoya agree, “How could you say all that crap to Hinata?!”

                “But it was true!” Kageyama retorted, “He’s a fag, why do you care?”

                “Why, ‘cause you said he is?” Tanaka responded,

                “Even if he were, why do _you_ care?” Nishinoya added,

                “B-but, he’s a fag!” Kageyama said, starting to sound desperate, “He’s disgusting, why are you defending him?!”

                “Gee, I don’t know Kageyama, maybe we’re not from the fricken’ nineteen hundreds!” Nishinoya snapped, “What’s wrong with you?!”

                “You better leave Hinata the hell alone!” Tanaka threatened, “I’d bet you’re the reason he’s been acting so weird lately. If I catch you sayin’ shit like that to him again –“

                “Wait!” Hinata yelled from the top of the stairs, half-falling down them in his rush as he saw Tanaka’s raised fist, Nishinoya jumping around behind him, “Don’t hurt Kageyama, Tanaka-senpai!”

                Tanaka flinched at the use of senpai and lowered his fist, Kageyama releasing the breath he’d been holding. Hinata jumped down the last few stairs to stand in between Kageyama and the two second years.

                “Fine,” Tanaka said, moving back a bit, “But you hurt my kouhei again,” he sneered, “And I won’t be so quick to leave”

                “I don’t know why you’re protecting that piece of garbage Hinata,” Nishinoya said, “But I wouldn’t waste my time on people like that”

                Nishinoya and Tanaka turned around and left, the latter continuing to pull bizarre faces at Kageyama over his shoulder until they went around the corner of the gym. Kageyama still stood where he’d been throughout the whole confrontation, tightly gripping the strap of his bag in his fists, a hurt look on his face.

                “Are you okay?” Hinata asked, concerned about Kageyama and why his two senpai would corner him like that.

                “Why are you still being nice to me?” Kageyama managed to spit out between clenched teeth, “It won’t work. You might have managed to get to the others, but you won’t turn me like you. I won’t!”

                “I’m sorry,” Hinata apologised, confused by what Kageyama was saying, “I don’t know why you hate me, but I’m sorry,” Hinata was looking down at his feet, hands fidgeting, unable to look at Kageyama, “I won’t try to be your friend any more, I’m sorry”

                Hinata turned and ran off before he could start crying again, sick of feeling sad. Not looking back to Kageyama, he rushed off to some quiet corner of the school where he ate his lunch in peace. Having eaten properly and slept a little, Hinata went to his classes that afternoon feeling slightly better than he’d been feeling for the past week or so. _“I won’t try to be your friend any more, I’m sorry”_ , Hinata sighed, trying to focus on his school work for once, trying to forget about Kageyama for at least a while, _I wonder if he was sad or happy when I said that?_


	6. You're A Bad Person!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,
> 
> Here's chapter 6. It's a bit shorter than I wanted (a lot of dialogue), but I felt like this was the most natural stopping point I was likely to get as more stuff keeps happening. Don't worry, I should post the next chapter in another day or two (I can't stop myself now). Also I keep feeling like the characters are being themselves too much, like to an exaggerated extent. I'm pretty sure it's because of all the fanfiction I've read in which we build them up into these highly detailed characters off of relatively shallow source material.
> 
> I hope you all like it anyway, thanks for reading,
> 
> nightshade

                After classes had finished for the day, Hinata left class eager to get to practice, hoping that maybe volleyball would be able to help him forget about Kageyama for a little while. _Sure, Kageyama will be there too_ , Hinata thought as he made his way through the hallways, trying not to run into anyone, _But I said I wasn’t going to bother him anymore… Not that he pays much attention to me at practice anyway_.

                Saddened by his train of thought, Hinata stopped as he walked out of the school building and slapped his hands to his cheeks firmly, the sharp sting just hurting rather than bringing him out of his reverie. _It always seemed to work for Michimiya-senpai_ , Hinata thought glumly as he rubbed his red cheeks, thinking of how he’d often see the girls’ volleyball captain doing the same thing during her lunchtime conversations with Daichi. Woken up a bit more, if nothing else, Hinata began to make his way towards the gym, trying to distract himself with thoughts of joking with Nishinoya and Tanaka rather than missing spiking Kageyama’s tosses.

                As he walked he saw Kageyama who was walking in the opposite direction, towards the school entrance, looking more sullen than usual.

                “Hey, Kageyama!” Hinata called, Kageyama’s head whipping around to see who was calling him, only to scowl scarily when he saw it was Hinata, “You’re going the wrong way baka! Daichi-san will be mad if you’re late!”

                Kageyama just looked even more pissed off than he had been already, and continued stalking off towards the school gates, muttering under his breath the whole time. _Oh_ , Hinata thought, _That’s right, I’m not supposed to bother him anymore. Still though, why isn’t he going to practice? Is he sick or something? Could he still be avoiding me – to the point he won’t even go to volleyball practice anymore?!_

                Hinata scurried off to the gym, not wanting to be late himself. The third years were already in the gym setting up, while the others were still getting ready in the club room. He saw Sugawara talking to Daichi while Asahi was trying to put the net up by himself. Reluctantly, Daichi dragged himself away from his apparently riveting conversation with Sugawara to go and help him before he hurt himself, leaving Sugawara on the side of the court, vaguely watching the two in amusement as Daichi attempted to untangle the ace from the net.

                _I should at least tell someone that Kageyama isn’t coming_ , Hinata thought, so made his way over to Sugawara.

                “Ah, Sugawara-san?” Hinata asked

                “Yes Hinata?” Sugawara replied, turning to face the boy, “You haven’t changed yet,” he noted

                “No, I will in a minute. It’s about Kageyama,” Hinata started

                “Don’t worry about him,” Sugawara said in a hard voice, “I’ve already spoken with him and he’s not coming to practice today”

                “Oh, okay,” Hinata said, _That must’ve been why he was coming from the gym. I should have known he wouldn’t have just not shown up without telling anyone_ , Hinata berated himself.

                “That was all then. I’ll go get changed now,” Hinata mumbled, mind already trying to come up with reasons why Kageyama would miss volleyball practice. He hurried off to get changed as the others started to make their way towards the gym ahead of him. While he was rushing to get changed he kept having to start again to fix things like an inside out shirt, or backwards pair of shorts, because he kept getting distracted by possible reasons why Kageyama was absent. By the time he got to the gym, ready for practice, he had narrowed it down to he either had a terminal illness from playing too much volleyball or the yakuza were after him because he’d been death-staring their boss.

                Thankfully, once Hinata actually started playing volleyball, he began to concentrate only on the ball and all of the bad thoughts about Kageyama and his absence and the events of the past few days were pushed aside for a while. After practice, Hinata felt great, if a bit tired, and was heading back to the gym to retrieve his forgotten water bottle before he left to go home for the weekend. Approaching the gym doors however he overheard Daichi and Sugawara talking inside, normally he would’ve walked straight in but he stopped to listen for a moment when he heard his name,

                “… seemed much happier this afternoon. I’m sure it’s because Kageyama wasn’t here,”

                “Hmm, I don’t particularly like losing a player like Kageyama, but you’re right Suga, he was a lot more energetic today than he has been for a while,”

                “I just feel bad for not realising sooner, I wonder how long he’s been bullying Hinata like that?”

                “Well, I’m sure Hinata knows he can come to us if he has any more problems with him. Hopefully this is all just Kageyama having some sort of bad reaction and he’ll get over it soon enough and apologise,”

                “I doubt it. He’s probably just going to try a find some way to force his way back in, people like him are too backwards and hateful to actually realise they’re the ones at fault,”

                “Now Suga, you have to be willing to at least give him a chance to learn. If we can’t do even that, then how are we any better than them?”

                “I guess. I’m not holding out any hopes though. After what he did to Hinata, I honestly hope he doesn’t come back –“

                Daichi opened the door as he and Sugawara walked out to leave, only to find a teary Hinata outside.

                “Hinata? What –“ Sugawara started,

                “You’re wrong!” Hinata yelled suddenly, seemingly startling himself with his volume, “You’re wrong,” he continued a little more softly, “Kageyama’s not hateful or mean, he- he’s just confused,”

                “Hinata,” Sugawara looked at the boy softly under the fluorescent lights illuminating the twilight outside the gym, “I know you want to see the best in people, but some people just aren’t worth it. You’re not a bad person just because you don’t like someone,”

                “You’re wrong!” Hinata shouted again, “Kageyama’s not a bad person!”

                “Hinata-“ Daichi started, trying to calm down the first year who was already starting to draw the attention of the rest of the team up in the club room.

                “You’re just like his team in middle school! You don’t understand him, so you’re just going to throw him away! You’re the bad person!” Hinata yelled, tears starting to fall down his face as he turned and ran to the school gates, hopping on his bike and furiously pedalling off before anyone could stop him.

                Sugawara just stood in the doorway of the gym, Daichi asking if he was alright and saying that Hinata was just upset and that he didn’t mean it.

                “I know he was just angry Daichi,” Sugawara said after a while, the shock wearing off, “I just can’t figure out what’s going on. Why would he keep defending someone like him?”

                “I don’t know Suga,” Daichi replied, “You’d have to ask him yourself. But like you said, this is Hinata, he doesn’t like to see the bad in people – especially the people who are supposed to be his team,”

                “He was quick enough to see it in me though, wasn’t he?” Suga laughed half-heartedly

                “You’re not a bad person,” Daichi reassured the boy

                “I know, I know,” Suga said, “It doesn’t make hearing someone say it any easier though”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. I'm not entirely sure how weekends work in Haikyuu, I feel like they come in for volleyball practice on Saturday or something but I don't really know. If someone who does know could tell me that would be great, otherwise I'm just going to use the Western Monday-Friday week and not have them come in on weekends. I just figure that would be better than making them come in on weekends, but getting it wrong.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> nightshade


	7. Why Is This So Hard?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all,
> 
> Thank you for reading chapter 7 (that chapter title though, you dirty minded people *tut tut*). We have Natsu, I actually wrote this imagining her as like four, then checked, and realised she's actually more like 6-7, oops. I'm just going to put it down to that Hinata-family childlike quality. The first half of this I'm worried is kind of cheesy, but hopefully the second half is nice a dramatic again (with only minimal cheese). We're getting there people, we're almost like a quarter way through (although we're already over 12k words which I was not expecting), I <3 you guys so much for loving the angst - just let it consume you :D
> 
> nightshade

                Angry and upset, Hinata wanted nothing more than to spend the whole weekend sulking in bed, but unfortunately his mother needed to run errands in town and needed him to help. So he pulled on an old hoodie and helped his mother coax Natsu into the car before sitting back and gazing idly at the flashing scenery as they drove over the mountain and into the town proper.

                After running the few errands they needed to do in town, they pulled into the local grocery store, their mother deciding they may as well do their grocery shopping while they were there after she saw the big sign out front advertising a sale on pork. Hinata just followed his mother and sister around the sore, hands in his pockets, looking at his feet as his feelings still roiled around in a complicated mess in his head.

                Natsu was becoming increasingly antsy with the slow pace of the shopping, so it wasn’t long before all of her mother’s attention was spent just trying to keep the little girl under control.

                “Shouyou, can you go get some milk please?” Hinata’s mother asked him, trying to keep her rambunctious daughter entertained, “I forgot to get some while we were in the cold section,”

                “Okay,” Hinata mumbled, trudging off towards the other end of the store. He got to the right section and began wandering down the aisle, looking for the milk. He eventually found it and leaned down to pick up a carton, standing up quickly when he heard an exclamation behind him,

                “What are you doing here?!”

                “Kageyama?!” Hinata cried, turning to find the setter standing behind him looking stressed.

                “Are you following me again? I-I thought you said you’d stop?” Kageyama asked, looking more pained than angry, “Haven’t you done enough already, why won’t you just leave me alone?”

                “Eh?!” Hinata squawked, “I wasn’t following you, I swear, I’m just shopping – see!” Hinata held out the carton of milk in front of him as proof.

                “You live on the other side of the mountain, you wouldn’t come here just to buy milk! You can’t trick me!” Kageyama yelled, starting to get more upset, “I never did anything to you, why won’t you just quit this?!”

                “I swear, we were just shop-“

                “Nii-chaaaan!” Natsu’s high-pitched shriek was all the warning either of the boys got as the little girl flung ran down the aisle and flung herself at Hinata, arms outstretched and hooking around his neck to hold herself up. She grinned broadly at her older brother before to notice the confused boy with him.

                “Nii-chan, is this boy bullying you?” Natsu asked, before dropping to the floor and standing between the two boys, “Don’t worry,” she said, sweeping her little arm backwards towards Hinata as she faced Kageyama with grim determination, “I’ll protect you”

                “Wha-?” Kageyama exclaimed, still confused about who this weird mini-Hinata person was, “H-he’s the one bullying me!”

                “Pffffft! I’m not stupid,” Natsu snorted derisively, “You’ve got a scary face, which must mean you’re a bad guy”

                Taken aback by the little girl’s insult, and more wounded by it then he’d probably like to let on, Kageyama wasn’t prepared for the pudgy little fists which started pummelling his legs. Hinata, apparently under the impression that the punches were actually effective, tried to rein in the girl by grabbing her by the waist and lifting her up in the air, to her delight.

                Hinata’s mother came around the corner to find her son desperately trying to keep a grip on a shrieking Natsu, who looked like she was having the time of her life, and another boy standing to the side, completely dumbfounded.

                “Natsu, come here!” her mother called, “Don’t run off like that!”

                “Mummy, Mummy!” Natsu yelled as she wriggled out of Hinata’s grip and ran over to her mother, peeking out from her hiding place behind her mother’s legs as she walked forward to greet the new boy.

                “Hello, sorry if my daughter was bothering you,” she apologised sheepishly, “She tends to get over excited easily”

                “Ah, it’s okay,” Kageyama replied meekly, not quite sure what to when confronted by this kindly woman who appeared to be Hinata’s mother.

                “Are you a friend of Shouyou’s?” she asked, distracted by Natsu trying to sneak some pudding into the groceries.

                “Kageyama’s on the volleyball team. He’s in a rush though, so he should probably go,” Hinata rushed, not wanting to hear whatever Kageyama’s answer was. Kageyama, clearly made uncomfortable by the whole exchange, nodded along to Hinata’s excuse before grabbing two cartons of milk and rushing off and around the corner.

                Hinata’s mother, not having noticed the awkwardness that had just occurred, just hurried her two children along to the checkout, the milk being the last thing she’d needed to get.

                On the way home, Hinata couldn’t help but wonder about what had happened with Kageyama that day. _I wonder what he would’ve answered?_ Hinata thought anxiously, _Would he have just lied and said yes, or would he have told her the truth – that he hates me and thinks I’m gross and bad?_ Hinata just sighed as he leant his head against the cool window, closing his eyes and letting the vibrations of the car against his head eclipse all of his worries about Kageyama and the team until they finally got home.

 

*******

 

                Hinata lay under the covers of his bed, curled up in a ball, taking some comfort from the warm darkness. Everything just seemed to be going wrong lately, and whenever he felt like he was finally figuring things out, something new would happen and he’d find himself right back at square one.

 _Even if what Sugawara-san said was true, and nobody hated me or thought I was a bad person, they must now_ , Hinata thought to himself, eyes clenched shut to try and stop himself from crying again. He’d done far too much crying lately and he hated it. _Kageyama thinks I’m bad and gross – he said so lots of times, and then I got mad at Sugawara-san and said he was a bad person even though he’s normally really nice. He probably hates me too – the whole team probably hates me. But I just don’t get it. Sugawara-san is normally such a nice person, why is he being mean to Kageyama? It can’t just be because Kageyama doesn’t like me anymore, can it? Why is everyone acting so crazy?!_

                “Are you okay Nii-chan?” a quiet voice asked from the doorway of his bedroom. Hinata pulled the covers from over his head to see his little sister cautiously peering into the room.

                “Are you sick? Do you have a tummy ache?” she asked, taking a few steps into the room, Hinata putting on a weak smile for his worried sister, “You should tell Mummy so she can give you some medicine. Even if it doesn’t taste nice you still have to                 take it to get better”

                “It’s okay Natsu, I’m not sick,” Hinata reassured the little girl. Natsu, who was not convinced in the least, spotted her brother’s volleyball sitting in the far corner of the room.

                “If you’re not sick,” she explained as she walked over to pick up the volleyball, worn from use, “Then you should come play volleyball with me”

                “Sorry Natsu,” Hinata apologised, “Not right now, I’m tired”

                “Nii-chan, what’s wrong? You always want to play volleyball,” she waddled over to the bed, carrying the volleyball in her arms still, “Even when you’re sick you try and play it and so Mummy has to yell at you to rest”

                Hinata just looked at his little sister standing next to his bed, faces at the same level, and tears started to well into his eyes. Soon he was quietly sobbing, seemingly unable to stop no matter how embarrassed he was to cry in front of his little sister. Natsu just crawled onto the bed with him and hugged his head as he cried,

                “It’s okay nii-chan, sometimes even I cry, but then I feel better afterwards, so you should just cry too,” Natsu explained, gently patting Hinata’s head. A while later their mother found the two of them asleep, both sprawled across the bed, sheets half kicked off. She just laughed to herself at her two seemingly ridiculous children and left them be.

 

*******

 

                It was early Monday morning as Hinata walked his bike into the school, nervous to go to practice today. _Is Sugawara-san going to be mad? Maybe they’ll kick me off the team for yelling like that at a third year? Please don’t kick me of the team Sugawara-san!_

                When he got to the club room to change he was the only one there, but he could see Sugawara and Daichi’s things already there, so they must’ve already gone to the gym. Quickly getting changed, apprehensive about being alone with just Sugawara and Daichi, Hinata hesitantly made his way over to the gym. As he got closer he heard loud voices coming out of the open doors.

                “Absolutely not! Now get out!” Hinata heard Sugawara yelling

                “Please Sawamura-san, you can’t do this, please!” Kageyama’s voice sounded desperate as he pleaded to the captain, “I’ll do anything – I’ll clean up everything myself after practices!”

                “I’m sorry Kageyama,” Daichi spoke, quieter than the other two, but with the same authority that he always spoke with, “But we told you what you have to do. If you can’t play with the team – the _whole_ team – then you can’t play at all,”

                “B-but, I already told you I’d play with him if I had to. Isn’t that enough, please you can’t kick me off the team!” Hinata hid just outside the gym doors, listening to their argument echo off of the empty court. After a few seconds he heard another sound, much quieter than their yelling and he had to strain his ears to hear it. _Is Kageyama crying? Wait! They want to kick Kageyama off of the team! Why?!_

                “Please, I just want to play volleyball-“

                “Then go play with someone else,” Sugawara interrupted, his normally warm voice now cold with distaste, “If you want to play it that much, just apologise to Hinata! You’re lucky that’s all you have to do!”  
                “Suga!” Daichi’s voice suddenly cutting off Sugawara, “Enough, if he can genuinely apologise to Hinata, he can rejoin the team,”

                “You know I can’t do that – I won’t!” Kageyama forced through gritted teeth, “Never, I can’t believe I was even willing to play on the same court as him!” Kageyama’s footsteps could be heard storming towards the gym doors, “Have a whole team of fags for all I care, I’ll never accept that kind of perversion!”

                Hinata scrambled around to try and hide before Kageyama saw him eavesdropping, but ended up running right into him instead.

                “You!” Kageyama hissed, his face flushed and twisted in pain and anger, a few tears still rolling down his cheeks, “This is all your fault! I hate you! I hate you...”

                His words slowly devolved into more tears and he pushed the shocked Hinata out of his way, sprinting off while desperately rubbing his face in a vain attempt to stop his tears. Hinata just looked after him, the image of Kageyama’s tear-streaked face stuck in his mind, his chest hurting with the echo of Kageyama’s words, each ‘I hate you’ another sharp thrust between his ribs.

                “Hinata, are you okay?” Sugawara asked, the captain and vice-captain having run over to the doors when they’d heard Kageyama yelling outside, “He didn’t hurt you or anything did he?”

                “It’s my fault!” Hinata gasped, as he slowly kneeled to the ground, chest still hurting and eyes already starting to fog over.

                “Oh my god, did he hit you! That bastard-“ Sugawara started, seeing Hinata’s face slowly contorting with pain, “It’s not your fault Hinata, it’s Kageyama’s. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he gets it for this!”

                “NO! Stop it!” Hinata cried, “Stop punishing him when it’s my fault!”

                “Hinata, I told you it’s not your fau-“

                “Hinata,” Daichi asked calmly, gently pushing Sugawara out of the way and kneeling down besides the distressed boy, “What’s your fault?”

                “Y-you’re kicking Kageyama off the team! He just wants to play volleyball and make friends, but it’s just like middle school all over again, except it’s my fault!” Hinata sobbed, looking pleadingly up at the captain, “Please don’t kick him off the team,”

                “Hinata,” Daichi began before an antsy Sugawara could get a word in, “It’s not your fault we took Kageyama off the team, it’s because of his own actions,”

                “I heard you, it’s because he doesn’t like me anymore,” Hinata sniffled, tears slowly drying up as he body continued to be racked by the occasional sob, “I promise I won’t argue with him anymore, or make him angry. We don’t even have to play together, I can just sit on the bench in matches!”

                “What the hell Hinata!” Suga exploded, “What is he holding over you, why do you keep trying to defend him like this?”

                “Suga-“ Daichi cautioned

                “Why do you keep talking like he’s a bad person or something?! You’re the one who said you’re not a bad person just because you don’t like someone! What does it matter that Kageyama doesn’t like me?!” Hinata shouted at Sugawara, no longer crying, just frustrated – frustrated that no matter what he did things just kept getting worse and he didn’t understand why.

                “Because it’s not going to just stop there,” Sugawara replied, voice like a whisper compared to before, “You can’t just try and make friends with him or ignore him. He’s not going to just keep calling you names or spreading rumours, it’s just going to get worse and worse – those kind of people won’t be satisfied until your dead!”

                Sugawara stood there, gasping for breath after his outburst, Daichi just staring, dumbstruck as well, barely registering Hinata’s whine,

                “But why?” Hinata asked, desperate to understand, “Why would Kageyama ever do something like that?”

                “Who knows?” Sugawara sighed, “I don’t. All they seem to care about is that you’re gay, that’s enough for them to hate you,”

                “What?” Hinata asked Sugawara, still confused, “Who’s gay?”

                Sugawara just looked at Hinata for a moment, brow furrowed, “.... You?”

                “Wait, Hinata,” Daichi looked at Hinata, “Are you not gay?”  
                “No?” Hinata said after a moment, softly shaking his head, “I don’t think so. How do you tell?... Is that why Kageyama doesn’t like me?! Because he figured out I was gay?!” Hinata began desperately going back over everything that had happened over the past few weeks, trying to piece it all together.

                “What?!” Sugawara asked, babbling, “How did you no-? But didn’t yo-? But he kept calling you a, you know, a _fag_ ,” Sugawara rambled, the distaste on his face evident as he whispered the last word. Hinata just blushed and looked away sheepishly,

                “I, uh, I didn’t know what that word meant so, uh, I didn’t say anything ‘cause I didn’t want you to laugh or think I was stupid or something,”

                “Oh my god...” Daichi muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose, not sure whether to laugh, cry or start throwing things.

                “So... you’re not actually gay?” Sugawara asked, still trying to wrap his head around what was happening.

                “Well, I must be right? You all thought so,” Hinata went on, a part of him glad that he’d finally gotten some sort of answer for Kageyama’s behaviour, but now confused by the new issue at hand, “How did you tell?”

                “You can’t-, Kageyama kept saying you were, and you weren’t denying it, so I just-, uhhh!” Sugawara explained, exasperated by the conversation, “So you’re not gay.’

                “How do you tel-?”

                “You can’t-, _I_ can’t tell, only you can tell if you’re gay or not Hinata,” Sugawara tried to get across, “You do know what being gay means, right?”

                “Yes!” Hinata replied with indignation, “I’m not stupid!”

                Daichi’s eyes shot upwards, pleading to some god out there to give him patience.

                “Happy place,” Sugawara uttered to Daichi, noticing his silent prayer, “Then tell me Hinata, are you gay or not?”

                “Or don’t tell me,” he added after a moments thought, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,”

                Hinata sat deep in thought, his mind in overdrive trying to process every interaction he’d ever had with Kageyama, racking his brain for what it might have been that’d lead Kageyama to the conclusion that he was gay.

                “You just sit here for as long as you need Hinata,” Daichi offered as the other team members began to arrive and enter the gym for practice, not noticing the subtle red rims of Hinata’s eyes, the only indication of what had happened prior to their arrival.

                And so Hinata sat. And thought. He eventually hit a dead end with the Kageyama line of thought, no matter how much he pondered it, he couldn’t figure out what might have made Kageyama think he was gay. _But Sugawara-san said only I can tell if I’m gay or not, so doesn’t that mean I should think about what I’ve done that_ I _think makes me gay, not Kageyama_.

                “Hmmm,” Hinata hummed to himself in thought, pleased at least with his epiphany, if you could call it that, even if it had yet to garner any results. Unfortunately, it was at that point that the players started filing out of the gym and Hinata realised that he’d spent the entire of the morning practice deep in thought. _And I’m still barely any closer to getting an answer!_

                “Don’t worry Hinata,” Sugawara reassured the struggling boy as he closed the gym doors, he and Daichi the last to leave, “I was a bit, uh, impatient, before but you don’t need to have an answer right away. You might have to think about it for a long time to find an answer, if you find one at all,”

                Hinata looked slightly disheartened, but then a look of delight spread across his face as a spark of inspiration struck him,

                “I’m not gay,” he said confidently,

                “Well, I guess I’m glad you were able to resolve that so quickly. Uh, good for yo-“

                “That means Kageyama can come back right?” Hinata asked hopefully, “If I’m not gay, Kageyama won’t hate me, so you don’t have to kick him off the volleyball team,”

                “No.” Sugawara said stonily, “He still can’t come back,”

                “B-but,” Hinata floundered, unsure of how his plan had failed, “If there aren’t any gay people on the team, why can’t Kageyama come back?”

                Sugawara stiffened at Hinata’s question, but Daichi responded first,

                “Hinata, what about next year, or the year after?” Daichi explained, “What if a new student comes along who wants to play volleyball, just like you or Kageyama, but he’s gay? Are you going to tell him he can’t play because of Kageyama?”

                Hinata thought for a moment, worry and frustration flooding his face. He groaned in irritation, running his hands through his hair,

                “I just want Kageyama to be able to play with us again. Why is this so hard?”

                “Just forget about him Hinata,” Sugawara said, starting to walk away, “You’re just better off not dealing with people like that,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are people crying too much? I don't know, I just always imagine them crying (what's wrong with me - send help)


	8. It's Only Volleyball, Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, another update already.
> 
> I keep writing these with the plan to get to a specific point in the plot, only to realise that I'm already at like 1k words and I've only written a single event. It's a little short but, oh well, I guess it just means I'll have to update more frequently. Poor Kageyama, you won't be alone for much longer, I promise. You won't be particularly happy, but at least you won't be alone.
> 
> Thanks for reading, you guys are great,
> 
> nightshade

                Hinata sat through class, not even attempting to feign attention half of the time, earning him an earful from his maths teacher. Now that the question had taken root in his mind, he couldn’t seem to think of anything else.  _Sugawara-san said I might never figure it out!_ Hinata thought woefully, his head falling to his desk in a slump, _I give up, I don’t even care anymore. Either way, Kageyama can’t play volleyball with us anymore_.

                Somewhat satisfied, Hinata was able to regain some of his focus just in time for lunch to begin. Grabbing his bento, he wandered out into the hall, vaguely waving in response to people who greeted him as they walked past each other. Finding himself outside the gym, he figured it was as good a place as any and sat down to start eating, wondering if perhaps he should go find Matsuo and his friends.

                A familiar noise soon reached his ears, the thump of a volleyball hitting the ground over and over again. Curious that maybe some of his senpai were practicing in their break, instead of studying as was usual for the third years, he got up and peered round the corner.

                Kageyama was tossing a volleyball up in the air, spiking it near the gym wall for it to rebound back for him to set again. Hinata watched for a few moments, unsure if he should interrupt. _I told him I wouldn’t bother him anymore_ , Hinata thought, _He said he hates me. But he said before when he was arguing with Sugawara-san that he might’ve been willing to play with me..._

                Hinata felt a longing to feel the sting of one of Kageyama’s tosses in his palm again. He kind that made his whole body buzz as they synced up the way only they could. The way they hadn’t for what seemed like an eternity.

                “Kageyama?” Hinata asked meekly,slowly coming out from around the corner. Startled out of his focus, the setter hit the ball awkwardly, resulting in it rolling to a stop next to Hinata.

                “What do you want?” Kageyama asked bitterly, “I thought you said you weren’t going to bother me anymore. Why are you always lying to me?!”

                “I’m sorry,” Hinata mumbled, picking up the ball and walking over to Kageyama, holding it out in front of him to return it, “I know I said that but, I thought maybe we could practice, or something...”

                “With you?!” Kageyama hissed, “You’re the reason they kicked me off the team. I can’t even play volleyball now because of you!”

                “I’m sorry!” Hinata yelped, “I tried to convince Sugawara-san and the captain to let you stay, but they said they wouldn’t! I didn’t know what else to do!” Kageyama just glared angrily at Hinata, who cautiously handed the ball back, and started to leave, “I just thought, you might have wanted someone else to practice with or something. It’s hard to practice volleyball by yourself,” Hinata mumbled shyly as he retreated from the irate Kageyama, remembering his own days in middle school where he’d had to practically beg everyone he knew to practice with him.

                “Wait.” Kageyama uttered, looking fiercely at the ground, “J-just volleyball right? You won’talk to me, or try and trick me or anything?”

                “I promise!” Hinata assured hopefully

                “Then, I guess it should be fine,” Kageyama conceded, “But don’t you try anything,” he threatened, eyes shooting up to focus on Hinata with scrutiny. Hinata just smiled broadly, miming that he’d zipped his lips, not even sure what it was exactly Kageyama thought he would ‘try’.

                _I know he thinks I’m gay, so he hates me... for some reason, but what does he actually think a gay person would do?_ Hinata began spiking Kageyama’s tosses to the ground, relishing the feeling of spiking the volleyball as hard as he could, jumping as high as he could reach and having the ball shoot to his hand effortlessly every time. _Maybe this is my chance?_ Hinata thought suddenly, _Maybe, if I just pay extra special attention, I can figure out what it is that makes Kageyama think I’m gay_.

                With that plan in mind, Hinata took careful note of everything he did as the two boys continued practicing, _I’m not doing anything though! I’m just spiking a ball, the same as anyone else would!_ But when he looked at Kageyama, as focussed as ever, he couldn’t help but see the faintest hint of a smile, and Hinata wondered if maybe Kageyama had missed this just as much as he had.

                “Oi!” a voice called, causing Kageyama to catch the ball rather than toss it, leaving Hinata to swipe at air before almost losing his balance as he landed, “What are you doing?”

                Nishinoya walked over towards the two first years, holding a can of juice in one hand, the other pointing accusingly at Kageyama, “Captain told us you weren’t on the team anymore, so what are doing here with Hinata?

                “I can still practice volleyball on my own,” Kageyama answered, the already faint traces of happiness on his face already starting to disappear.

                “But you aren’t alone are you?” Nishinoya pointed out, “Don’t think you can just bully Hinata into playing with you ‘cause no one else wants to!” Kageyama flinched at the words, hands gripping tightly around the volleyball.

                “Yo, Noya-san!” Tanaka called, rounding the corner, “There ya are, what took you so long, I thought you were only getting a drink?”

                “I found Kageyama here forcing one of our precious kouhei to practice with him ‘cause he got kicked off the team,” Nishinoya answered, Tanaka turning to see the two first years as Nishinoya’s words began to rile him up.

                “Oh yeah, think you can just push around one of our kouhei do ya?” Tanaka asked, approaching Kageyama while pulling a weird face.

                “He didn’t force me!” Hinata interjected, trying to get Tanaka’s attention off of Kageyama, “I asked him if I could practice spiking with him...”

                “You should have just come and found your faithful senpai,” Nishinoya proclaimed, slinging his arm around Hinata, trying to walk him away from Kageyama.

                “Yeah, you don’t have to go around dealing with scum like him,” Tanaka added, turning to join the two to walk back towards the school, “We were just about to go help Ennoshita practice receiving in the gym, you can come too”

                “Can Kageyama come practice too?” Hinata asked, looking back to try and see what Kageyama was doing.

                “What?” Nishinoya asked incredulously, “Don’t worry about him, your wonderful senpai will take care of him if he tries to bother you again”

                “That’s okay,” Hinata said, wriggling out from between the two second years as they tried to walk him away from Kageyama, who was still standing where they’d left him, holding the volleyball in a tight grip, eyes clenched shut, “I’ll just practice with Kageyama for now. I can practice with you guys this afternoon at practice,” Hinata promised.

                “Hey, if you want me to beat him up or something-“ Tanaka started, eyeing off Kageyama from afar,

                “Please, just go.” Hinata said firmly, “I’ll practice with you guys later,” he smiled at them and began walking back over to where Kageyama was standing. Nishinoya held back Tanaka, who began to step forward to intervene,

                “Let’s just go for now Ryuu,” Nishinoya said, turning to go. Tanaka hesitated for a second before reluctantly turning to join his friend.

                Kageyama’s eyes opened as he heard Hinata’s footsteps coming closer. The smaller boy just took the volleyball out of the setter’s hands and grinned,

                “Do you still want to practice together?”

                “Why?” Kageyama asked in a near whisper, “Why do you keep trying? I told you it won’t work, so why won’t you just leave me alone?”

                “Why do I have to keep trying?!” Hinata asked, his frustration with Kageyama  unexpectedly gushing forth, “I haven’t done anything wrong, I’m sure of it! I keep trying to figure out what it is exactly that bothers you so much but I can’t figure it out! I’m not _doing_ anything! So what the hell is it?” Kageyama stood back, surprised by the sudden outburst, “What is it exactly that I did wrong? How am I supposed to stop it when you won’t even tell me?!”

                “Y-you really don’t know?” Kageyama asked, unsure of what to think, “No!” he cried, taking a number of steps away from Hinata, “You’re just trying to trick me! You just want to make me confused or something, but it won’t work!”

                Kageyama ran off, leaving Hinata holding the volleyball, beyond annoyed at Kageyama’s stubbornness. After a while standing there, his irritation slowly fading away, he walked over to the wall of the gym and slid down it, taking his bento and absent-mindedly picking at his lunch with his chopsticks, tired of the whole ordeal.


	9. We Were Just Trying To Help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,
> 
> I'm thinking next chapter is going to be a big one in terms of plot, so you can finally have some actual development (sorry). There's a lot of dialogue in this chapter too, and I'm sort of having a tough time figuring out if it's too much or how I could make it a bit better, but I don't know I'll try harder to not do that in the next chapter. Thank you as always for reading and commenting and all the other good stuff,
> 
> nightshade

                Kageyama didn’t show up to practice that afternoon. _I thought he might’ve kept trying to get the captain to let him back on the team_ , Hinata thought to himself as he changed into his volleyball gear in the clubroom, _I guess Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san must’ve scared him off_. Unsettled by the idea of his two senpai genuinely scaring Kageyama, Hinata looked up to try and seek them out. They didn’t seem to be in the club room, but their stuff was already there, so they must’ve already gone down to the gym. Only Ennoshita and Narita were left in the room, complaining to each other about how their last teacher had held them back to scold the class for doing poorly on the last exam.

                Hinata, having stowed his things in a jumbled ball in the corner, rushed off to the gym, still eager for practice even if Kageyama couldn’t be there too. He stood in the gym doors looking around at everyone, who appeared to have already started doing their own stretches and drills, and saw Tanaka and Nishinoya at the far end of the court. He waved to the two second years, remembering his promise that they’d practicing receiving together today, and started jogging over to them. The two other boys looked up and smiled at Hinata, before suddenly looking away, attempting very poorly to look innocent. Offput by their sudden change in behaviour, Hinata was only left wondering for a moment before he was distracted by the vice captain calling him.

                “Hinata!” Sugawara called, beckoning with one hand, “Come here for a moment,”

                Hinata changed directions, heading over to Sugawara, an uneasy instinct telling him he was about to be scolded for something.

                “Is Kageyama bothering you again?” Sugawara asked in a protective tone, “You know you can tell Daichi or I if he’s harassing you, right?”

                “No,” Hinata started, not particularly wanting to talk about Kageyama right now, especially with Sugawara of all people, “He’s not bothering me. Can I go now?”

                “Hinata,” Sugawara warned, “Tanaka and Noya told me about what happened at lunch. I told you that Kageyama being taken off the team isn’t your problem. You can’t let him bully you into practicing with him just because no one else will,”

                “And you can’t bully me into not playing with him just because you don’t like him!” Hinata snapped back, “If it’s fine with you, I’d rather not discuss Kageyama anymore. I get that you won’t let him back on the team, but you don’t decide what he does now he’s off it!”

                Sugawara was a little stunned by the outburst, Hinata ready to turn curtly to go and join the others in practicing, seemingly oblivious (or at least pretending to be) to the scene going on.

                “Fine,” Sugawara said coldly, “I don’t know how you can stand up for him like that, but you’re right, I can’t stop you... I guess I just thought you were a better person than that,” Sugawara walked off stiffly, heading over to where Daichi and Asahi were talking, trying to hide their concerned glances over to Sugawara and Hinata. Hinata turned on the spot, ready to try and burn some of his anger and frustration off, and marched over to Tanaka and Nishinoya, who’d since been joined by Ennoshita.

                “Ah, are you alright Hinata?” Tanaka asked hesitantly,

                “Can we just practice for a bit, please,” Hinata requested quietly, starting to get a little embarrassed that the others had heard him and Sugawara.

                “Sure!” Nishinoya cheered, clapping Hinata on the back, “Maybe today you will finally be ready to learn ‘Rolling Thunder’,”

“Oooh, really Nishinoya-senpai?” Hinata responded hopefully, the two energetic second years staring to lift his spirits already.

                “Maybe, maybe,” Nishinoya said, wiping a small tear of pride from the corner of his eye, “What do you think your amazing senpai are for?”

 

*******

 

                Tanaka, Nishinoya and Hinata burst into the empty club room laughing. They walked in and started changing out of their volleyball stuff, still chatting jovially. Practice had gone great, they had spent the whole time practicing their receives, a task Hinata usually despised, but under Nishinoya’s guidance Hinata was _this close_ to managing to do a ‘Rolling Thunder’ (at least that’s what Nishinoya kept telling him everytime Hinata fell flat on his face). Suddenly Hinata realised that the friendly banter had disappeared and he turned to see an awkward looking Tanaka, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

                “Hey, Hinata,” Tanaka said, Hinata turning around to give him his full attention, “About earlier... Is Kageyama really not making you practice with him?”

                “No!” Hinata replied emphatically, “Don’t tell me you’re gonna tell me I can’t play with him anymore too?! I want to practice with Kageyama, I swear!”

                “Whoa Hinata, calm down,” Tanaka said, “We just... wanted to make sure,”

                “If you really do want to practice with him in your own time,” Nishinoya explained, “Then we won’t stop you,” Tanaka looked at Nishinoya for a moment before the boys continued, “And I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions... And told Suga-san about it...”

                Nishinoya looked down at his feet, wringing his hands nervously as he waited for Hinata to respond.

                “Oh,” Hinata finally said, a little surprised by the unexpected apology, “That’s okay then, I guess. As long as you’re not gonna try and make me ignore Kageyama then I don’t really mind. I know Sugawara-san doesn’t like Kageyama right now – I don’t think any of you really do – and that’s fine, as long as you don’t tell me that I have to dislike him too,”

                Nishinoya nodded quietly to his kouhei’s little speech, “But...” he started hesitantly when it was over, but appeared to think better of it.

                “What?” Hinata asked

                “I... I just don’t get why you’re being so nice to Kageyama after he was so horrible to you. Suga-san said that he’d been bullying you and stuff for ages,”

                “Kageyama’s just... not very good with people,” Hinata explained, trying to carefully think through everything he said, “I don’t think he means to be scary and stuff, I don’t think he really knows he’s doing it. Once you realise that, I think he’s actually pretty cool, or something,”

                “What about when we found him practically screaming at you in here?” Tanaka asked, curious himself as to why Hinata continued to defend the setter, “I mean, I don’t think even Kageyama could think that that wasn’t a horrible thing to do,”

                “Well, you see...” Hinata started, not really sure how to broach the subject, “Kageyama seems to, uh, think I’m gay, or something. And so, um, he started being really mean and stuff. And that’s why Sugawara-san kicked him off the team – even though I told him that I’d just tell Kageyama that I wasn’t gay!”

                Tanaka and Nishinoya had been nodding along so far, Sugawara had effectively told the team his version of events already unbeknownst to Hinata, but it was at this point that Nishinoya had a question,

                “Wait a minute,” Nishinoya interjected, “So, you aren’t gay? I thought that that was why Kageyama was bullying you?”

                “Uh, I don’t really know...” Hinata ecplained sheepishly, “Kageyama seems to think so, although I don’t know why. Sugawara-san did as well at first, but I think that was just because of Kageyama. He told me afterwards it was something I’d have to figure out myself, but, I haven’t had much luck – even after I thought about it like _all_ day,”

                “What?!” Tanaka burst, “How can you not know? I mean, shouldn’t it be obvious?”

                “Ryuu! If it were that obvious he would’ve figured it out by now, right?” Nishinoya scolded

                “Hinata,” Tanaka said confidently, “Do you think Kiyoko-san is pretty?” Hinata nodded enthusiastically, to Tanaka’s delight, “There you go, he’s straight,”

                “You idiot Ryuu,” Nishinoya sighed, “Of course he thinks Kiyoko-san is pretty, _everyone_ thinks that, she’s Kiyoko-san!”

                Tanaka thought about the dilemma for a moment, before suddenly getting an idea. He went over to his bag and started rummaging through it,

                “Ah, here it is,” Tanaka proclaimed, walking back over to the other two with something in his hand, “This should work, I, uh, _borrowed_ it from Saeko-neesan,”

                “Nee-san?!” Nishinoya asked excitedly, grabbing the item from Tanaka’s hand, “Oh yeah, this should definetely work. Nee-san is so cool!”

                “Pfft, no she isn’t, she’s just embarrassing,” Tanaka said, snatching it back from Nishinoya, “Here,” he said with a grin, holding it out to Hinata, “Look at that and tell me what you think,”

                Hinata looked at the glossy magazine Tanaka had handed him, unsure exactly what it was. He opened it up to a random page before immediately slamming it shut again, a blush rapidly crawling up his neck,

                “That lady was _naked_ ,” Hinata whispered, as if terrified someone might overhear,

                “Yeah, that’s the point _baka_ ,” Tanaka scoffed, “What about those girls, I mean they’re not as pretty as Kiyoko-san, but...”

                Hinata nervously opened the magazine back up again, forcing himself to look at the woman on the page, ignoring the heat in his face. Suddenly the door opened and Hinata shrieked and threw the magazine up in the air.

                “What the hell?” Ennoshita asked, leaning down to pick up the magazine that had hit him in the head as he entered the room, pausing awkwardly when he noticed the contents, “WHAT THE HELL?!”

                “Hey, Ennoshita, can I get that back, we weren’t done with it yet,” Tanaka asked nonchalantly while Ennoshita looked up to see him, Nishinoya and an extremely uncomfortable Hinata.

                “What are you doing with this kind of thing at school, you idiots!” Ennoshita started scolding the two, “And corrupting the innocent first years while you’re at it! You’re lucky the captain didn’t walk in, or worse, a teacher!”

                “Hey, we were only trying to help out our kouhei,” Tanaka tried to explain, “Isn’t that right Hinata?” Hinata just nodded meekly, hoping the heat in his cheeks would start to dissipate soon.

                “’Help out your kouhei’? Do I even want to know?” Ennoshita sighed, “Hinata looks traumatized, what on earth were you thinking?”

                “Well, Hinata wanted to figure out if he was gay or not-“ Nishinoya began,

                “So of course, you decided ‘Let’s show him porn!’,” Ennoshita mocked, “He’s not you two, he’s probably never thought about something less innocent than volleyball in his life and you show him this,” Ennoshita let the magazine fall open to demonstrate his point, much to Hinata’s mortification.

                “We were just trying to help,” Tanaka tried to defend himself meekly,

                “I suppose, but you still went about it the wrong way,”

                “Well how would you do it then?” Nishinoya jeered, miffed that they were getting in trouble for trying to help Hinata. Ennoshita walked over to Hinata to speak to him directly,

                “Look Hinata,” Ennoshita started, looking the boy in the eyes, “I don’t know what these two _idiots_ have told you, but I’d probably just forget all of it before you end up confusing yourself,”

                “B-but, they really were just trying to help...” Hinata managed to stutter. Ennoshita sighed, apparently givving in tho the inevitability of what was to happen,

                “Fine then,” he said, “Who do you like? Have you ever had a crush on anyone before?”

                “What?” Hinata asked confused,

                “You said you wanted help to figure out if you’re gay or not, here it is,”

                “Oh, okay, um, I don’ think so,” Hinata answered, “No one’s ever really confessed to me or anything before, not like with Tsukishima – or even Kageyama,”

                “Hmm, well you don’t have to have actually gone out with anyone, just, is there anyone you’ve ever, you know, _liked_?”

                “Um, I like you Ennoshita-san?” Hinata answered, Tanaka and Nishinoya trying to supress their laughter until Ennoshita gave them a pointed glance.

                “I mean, has there ever been anyone who you thought was special, or made you feel special. Or maybe when you’re with them or thinking about them it makes your heart race or gives you butterflies. Or even just, you know, someone who maybe made you think about something like... _that_ ,” Ennoshita finished, as he motioned towards the discarded magazine.

                “Ummm...” Hinata tried to think really hard, “Once my tummy felt really weird and I was all sweaty when I ate too many meat buns after practice, but I think that’s it,”

                “Then, I don’t really know what to say Hinata. Maybe once you’re a bit older or something you’ll be able to figure it out, but until then you’re just going to have to settle for not knowing,”

                “Okay...” Hinata conceded, the hope he’d had a short while earlier disappearing as he was once again left without an answer.

                “Don’t try and force it though,” Ennoshita advised, “It’ll happen when it happens, until it does just be happy you don’t have to worry about it. As for you two,” he turned to Tanaka and Nishinoya, “If I catch you corrupting the kouhei again, I’ll tell the captain and have him deal with you,”

                Tanaka and Nishinoya gulped and mumbled an apology. Hinata gathered up his things while Ennoshita continued to lecture the two. He waved them goodbye before leaving them to their fate and staring off on the ride home again. _Well_ , Hinata thought to himself as he rode over the mountain in the crisp twilight air, _At least Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san said that they would let me practice with Kageyama still, even if Sugawara-san was angry about it_.


	10. I Wanted You There

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeey everyone *awkwardness ensues*,
> 
> Sorry that it's been so long, the past week was just a nightmare and I didn't have any time to write. This week however I'm pretty much free, so I'll be able to upload regularly again. Thanks so much for the support of this fic though, we hit 1k hits and 100 kudos (wow!). In this chapter something finally happens (I know right, 'plot progression', what is this thing?), but no, something does actually happen for once. I hope you like it, I'm trying to be more conscious of my writing while writing it, so hopefully this chapter is an improvement.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, and your patience for the past week,
> 
> nightshade

                The next morning, practice was tense. Everyone, Hinata included, seemed to be expected Sugawara and Hinata to go at it again, but Sugawara seemed intent on ignoring the tension and pretending as if yesterday afternoon’s outburst had never taken place. Once it seemed that nothing was going to happen between the two, Daichi appeared to relax a bit and was able to encourage the others as well.

                Practice largely went smoothly, although towards the end Coach Ukai called the team over and told them he wouldn’t be able to make practice this afternoon, so it wouldn’t be on,

                “Although I still expect you’ll all probably show up anyways, crazy kids,” he muttered to himself as the boys immediately began planning to meet up that afternoon to practice regardless. It was at this point that Takeda reminded Sugawara and Daichi that they had some exams coming up that they’d better study for, forcing them to begrudgingly tell everyone they couldn’t go this afternoon either. Tsukishima (and by extension Yamaguchi) hadn’t been that interested in the first place, so without the controlling presence of the captain or vice-captain, they too decided not to go.

                “Yo Hinata,” Tanaka cried, “Looks like it’s gonna be just you and us second years this afternoon,”

                “Don’t forget Asahi-san,” Nishinoya said, “He’s still coming,”

                “Pfft, he’ll probably just end up studying with the other two,” Tanaka protested,

                “No he won’t,” Nishinoya said confidently, turning to shout, “HEY ASAHI-SAN!”

                The ace, at the other end of the court helping Daichi put the balls away, jumped half a foot when he heard his name yelled loudly across the room.

                “YOU’RE COMING TO PRACTICE THIS AFTERNOON, RIGHT?!”

                “Uhh,” Asahi nervously looked at Daichi, who just shrugged and continued to watch the exchange in amusement, “Uh, I guess!” Asahi tried to say loudly enough for Nishinoya to hear him.

                “See,” Nishinoya turned back to Tanaka and Hinata, leaving a confused Asahi wondering what was going on, “I told you he’d come,” Tanaka just sniggered away to himself, while Hinata looked in awe at the short boy who was able to yell at third year aces. The three of them made their way back to the club room to get ready for classes, talking about what they might do at practice that afternoon.

 

                *******

 

                Hinata was bouncing down the corridor, humming some vague tune to himself with bento in hand, glad that morning classes were finally over. As he was walking out the door, he noticed Kageyama heading over towards the gym, sipping away at a milk box and carrying a volleyball under his arm.

                _I wonder if he wants to practice again?_ Hinata thought ot himself as he slowly started heading in the same direction as Kageyama. _He was okay with playing with me yesterday, even if he still won’t really talk to me. But maybe he doesn’t want to after what happened last time_. Hinata frowned to himself, remembering how last time had ended with Kageyama storming off. _But that won’t happen this time, will it? Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san promised that they’d let me play with Kageyama, so they won’t bother us again._

                Hinata trotted after Kageyama, catching up to him as he sat down behind the gym where they’d practiced yesterday.

                “What are you doing here?!” Kageyama sputtered, almost spilling his milk as Hinata cam around the corner.

                “Um,” the boy responded, suddenly unsure if this was a good idea, “I was wondering... if you wanted to maybe practice volleyball again?”. Kageyama looked at Hinata suspiciously,

                “Won’t Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san just come and yell at me again? Is that what you want?” he accused.

                “No!” Hinata said, “I already explained to them and they apologised. They said they won’t bother you anymore...” Kageyama just looked down intently at the milk box in his hands while Hinata stood there awkwardly, “So, do you want to play again?”

                “No,” Kageyama replied stubbornly, “I’m... I’m tired right now. I practiced a bunch this morning,” he added, noticing Hinata was about to argue.

                “Oh, okay then,” Hinata said in a glum voice, “Oh! What about this afternoon then, you won’t be tired then will you?”

                “This afternoon?” Kageyama asked bitterly, “Are you an idiot? I’m not on the team anymore, I’m not allowed to go to practice-“

                “But we don’t have practice today,” Hinata explained, “Coach Ukai can’t come, neither can the third years, so we were just going to practice or whatever in the gym after school today,”

                Kageyama looked hopeful for a moment, but then suspicion returned to his face,

                “We?” he asked, “You mean the others will be there too. What makes you think they’ll let me play just because the third years aren’t there, none of them want to play with me,”

                “Well, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi aren’t going, so it was just going to be me and the second years anyway, oh, and Asahi-san. But Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san said that they wouldn’t bother you so it should be fine, right?”

                “I-I’ll think about it,” Kageyama finally responded, tempted by his desire to play volleyball will other people again. Hinata seemed happy at that and so plopped himself down next to Kageyama and began unwrapping his bento, “Wh-what are you doing?!”

                “Eating my lunch?” Hinata answered, mouth half full of rice already, “Do you want me to leave?” he asked, a little saddened by the fact that Kageyama wouldn’t even let him sit next to him.

                “Whatever, I don’t care. You just do what you want anyway,” Kageyama grumbled, although making sure to shuffle away from Hinata a bit so they weren’t as close. Hinata didn’t seem to take notice of the movement and continued eating his lunch with a small smile.

                A few minutes passed, Hinata happily munching away in silence, when he looked up to see Kageyama staring at him. When Kageyama saw Hinata look up, he quickly glanced away.

                “What? Do I have rice on my face or something?” Hinata asked, rubbing his face to try and dislodge any potential rice. When he’d finished he looked to Kageyama, waiting for him to tell him if it was still there or not.

                “N-no!” Kageyama stuttered, his face slowly starting to heat up as he continued to glare in the opposite direction of Hinata, “Where did you get that bento?” he finally managed, “... It looks really good...”

                “Huh? This?” Hinata asked, baffled about what was so great about his lunch, “I didn’t buy it or anything fancy like that,”

                “Yeah right,” Kageyama retorted, turning back to Hinata, “As if you could cook something like _that_ ,”

                “Hey, I totally could... probably,” Hinata squawked back, “Besides, my mum made it anyways,”

                “Oh,” Kageyama said, face going red from embarassment, “Of course your mother made it, I knew that...”

                Hinata just sat back, desperately trying to stifle giggles at Kageyama’s evident embarrassment,

                “Here,” he offered, holding out a piece of meat with his chopsticks, “You can have some if you want,” Kageyama looked at Hinata and the outstretched chopsticks warily, “Really, I’m done anyway,”

                By this point Hinata just wanted Kageyama to eat some, curious as to why the boy thought his mother’s bento was so amazing. _Maybe my mum’s secretly the best cook in the province and I didn’t know?_ he thought to himself. Kageyama eventually seemed to decide and reached out, taking the chopsticks from Hinata and eating the meat.

                He chewed thoughtfully for a few moments, relishing the taste, before suddenly going bright red again and throwing the chopsticks to the ground.

                “You tricked me!” Kageyama cried, rubbing his mouth furiously

                “Huh? What do you mean?” Hinata asked concerned, “It wasn’t even spicy or anything!”

                “You tricked me! You gave me your chopsticks... and then I... You tricked me!”

                Hinata looked at Kageyama for a moment, puzzled, before he burst out laughing,

                “Are you , like, eight or something Kageyama!” Hinata laughed, to Kageyama’s growing embarrassment, “You’re worried about an indirect kiss!”

                “Yo-you tricked me...” Kageyama tried to defend himself against Hinata’s laughter, but only ended up becoming even more embarrassed. The bell rang, only half heard over Hinata’s peals of laughter. Kageyama stood up and began heading back to class, desperately trying to calm his face before he got there.

                “Wait, Kageyama,” Hinata called after him, his laughter finally starting to cease, “Do you still want to practice after school?” Hinata asked, concerned his laughs might make Kageyama reconsider.

                “I said I’d think about it,” Kageyama replied before heading off to class, leaving Hinata behind.

 

                *******

 

                Hinata waved goodbye to his classmates as they continued on to the school gates or their various club activities, turning off towards the gym, eager for volleyball practice. As he got to the gym he saw Kageyama awkwardly standing outside, trying to peer inside throught he doors.

                “Kageyama!” Hinata greeted him, the setter startling and turning around to see who had called his name, “So you decided to come after all, good!” Hinata said with a grin, “What are you waiting for then,”

                Hinata walked into the gym confidently, Kageyama following cautiously as if he were doing something he shouldn’t. He called out to the others who were already stretching.

                “Yo Hinata,” Tanaka responded, seeing the two of them walk in, “Oh, hey Kageyama, um, are you gonna practice too?”

                “Uh, I can right?” Kageyama asked nervously, “Hinata said it was fine...”

                “Of course it’s fine,” Nishinoya said enthusiastically, “We need a setter anyway,”

                “Um, Noya-san,” Asahi whispered to Nishinoya, “Uh, didn’t Suga say that Kageyama wasn’t allowed to come to practice anymore?”

                “Well this isn’t an official practice is it!” Nishinoya retorted, quite loudly to Asahi’s mortification, “And Sugawara-san’s not here anyway, so who cares?”

                “M-maybe I should just go,” Kageyama said, turning to rush out of the gym

                “Kageyama, wait!” Hinata called after him, turning to look at Asahi who was already apologising profusely. Hinata went off after Kageyama, who’d already run quite a way. Finally catching up to him, and quite out of breath, Hinata found Kageyama hunched under a tree, the sun already starting to turn orange in afternoon.

                “Why are you here?” Kageyama asked, still heavy-breathed, “Why did you follow me?”

                “Why did you run away?!” Hinata heaved back, his breath starting to slow, blood still thrumming softly in his head.

                “They don’t want me there – because of you!” Kageyama spat, tears of frustration starting to form in the corners of his eyes, “Why did you have to ruin it!”

                “That’s not true, their your team, of course they want you their,” Hinata said, Kageyama glaring up at him, “Okay, maybe Sugawara-san doesn’t like you right now, but not everyone can like you Kageyama. Sometimes people don’t like you even when you’re nice to them...”

                “None of them want me there! Asahi-san clearly didn’t, Tanaka and Nishinoya too, none of them wanted me there!”

                “But I wanted you there,” Hinata mumbled. Kageyama just looked up at him, eyes watering and face still flushed from sprinting.

                “No!” Kageyama shouted, pushing at Hinata’s legs, trying to get him to leave, “Stop it, stop it! I don’t like you – I won’t like you! It’s gross and wrong so just leave me alone!”

                Hinata just stood back, looking at Kageyama sitting down under the tree, legs brought up to his chest, face pressed into his knees and shuddering slightly, trying to stop himself from crying.

                “Kageyama,” Hinata started softly after a moment or two, voice almost distant, “What exactly do you want me to stop doing?”

                “Stop following me,” Kageyama started, not looking up at Hinata, his arms hugging his legs even tighter, “Stop touching me, and saying all those things to me. Just stop talking to me. Or about me. And stop looking at me and making me look at you. Just stop making me feel sick and confused and just leave me alone, please,”

                “Kageyama,” Hinata said again, settling down next to Kageyama underneath the tree as the orange and pink light began to soften and lights began to spring on in the buildings nearby, “Do you, maybe, like me?”

                “NO!” Kageyama pulled away from Hinata violently, “No! I’m not gross like you! You can’t make me, please, don’t make me,”

                “Kageyama, I think you like me,” Hinata continued, a slight blush sprinkling his cheeks as he nervously shuffled over so he was next to Kageyama again, “You want to know why?” Kageyama just shook his head, remaining silent and still not looking at Hinata, “Because I didn’t do anything.”

                Kageyama started shuddering again, sobbing softly, “No, it’s you, you’re just tricking me,”

                “Kageyama,” Hinata said quietly, forcing Kageyama to finally look up to hear what he was saying, tears smeared down his flushed face, “It’s okay if you like me. I think, um, I don’t think that’s gross or anything,” Hinata paused for a moment, pink having difused across his pale face, “Um, I think it’s kind of nice,”

                He looked up at Kageyama, a small smile on his face while Kageyama continued to cry. Hinata just shuffled over a bit more and tentatively pulled Kageyama’s face down to his shoulder, hugging him gently. Kageyama stiffened at first, and Hinata was worried that he was about to push him away, but then he just collapsed into the smaller boy, crying ever more than before as Hinata rubbed his back. They sat there for a while as the sun set, Hinata holding Kageyama’s sobbing form against his chest, feeling him rub his wet, snotty face into his shoulder, yet unable to feel the slightest bit grossed out. He just felt an odd sense of contentment from feeling the warmth radiating of Kageyama and being able to see him like this, vulnerable and human.


	11. I'm Sorry, Please Forgive Me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone,
> 
> Thank you for reading chapter 11. In writing this chapter, as well as the last one, I feel like my writing is either getting better or worse, I can't tell. But I persevere and hopefully it's readable (+ we just hit 20k words, woop woop!). Now we begin the next 'act' I guess in this story, Hinata's finally figured out what Kageyama's deal is (at least part of it) and now the two of them have to figure it out from there. I foresee more angst, more crying, more Suga projecting his own issues, but now we also get KageHina so, yay?
> 
> Thank you guys again for all the support, I'm going to try updating when I can, and I should probably get another two (maybe three if I'm on a roll) chapters out by the end of this week,
> 
> nightshade

                Hinata was standing on the court at practice the next morning, staring into space when a flash of colour coupled with a handful of shouts snapped him out of it and he noticed a chance ball heading to his side of the net. Hinata ran forward and ended up hitting the ball awkwardly, screwing up the receive as he narrowly avoided Nishinoya, ending up falling to the ground with a thump. Nishinoya just looked at the boy questioningly while Hinata just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, apologising for almost running into the libero.

                “Hinata,” Coach Ukai called out, “Sit out for the rest of the match. At this rate you’re just gonna hurt someone,”

                “He’s right Hinata, you’ve been out of it all morning,” Nishinoya commented, looking at the forlorn boy, “Don’t worry, practice only goes for another fifteen minutes anyway,”

                Hinata reluctantly walked off to the side of the court, sitting down against the cool wall and taking a couple large swigs from his water bottle. The practice match going on in front of him wasn’t able to hold his attention for long and soon he found his mind drifting back to what had happened yesterday afternoon.

 _Does Kageyama really like me? I just sort of said it on the spot, but, I don’t really know... He didn’t say no, but he didn’t really say much of anything_ , Hinata thought, recalling the feeling of Kageyama’s warmth radiating against his chest, _It felt kind of nice though... Is that weird?! That Kageyama crying made me happy! But, it wasn’t really him crying that made me feel happy, it was more just Kageyama being... Kageyama. When I thought that maybe he liked me... I felt kind of, um..., FWAHH and my chest was all ticklish on the inside, or something... But_ , he thought, remembering what happened afterwards,

***

                The sun had just about set and Kageyama was still pressed into Hinata’s shoulder, hands tightly clinging to the sides of the boy’s shirt. Hinata just sort of held him awkwardly, unsure of what to do, but content to just keep sitting there, gently rubbing light circles on Kageyama’s back. He’d stopped crying a short while ago, and Hinata was kind of worried he’d fallen asleep, _It’s getting dark, I should probably go home soon, but, I can’t really leave Kageyama..._

                Streetlights slowly began to flicker on, the buzzing of the one close by turning on startling Kageyama slightly. The setter looked up to see the final rays of sunlight already fading and then looked at Hinata, their faces only a few inches apart, Hinata’s still dusted a pale pink barely visible in the dim light and Kageyama’s a red mess, eyes ringed and glassy.

                “Ahh!” Kageyama squawked, pushing against Hinata’s chest, propelling himself up to a standing position, “Umm, I should really go. It’s getting really late,”

                “Uh, yeah, I should probably go too,” Hinata replied, getting up and dusting the leaf litter off of his pants. By the time Hinata looked up again, Kageyama had already started leaving, “Bye,” Hinata called, “Uh, see you tomorrow?” Kageyama just kept walking away, a slight increase in pace the only indication he’d heard Hinata’s goodbye.

***

                “Are you sure you’re okay Hinata?” Hinata startled out of his recollection, looking up slightly to see a concerned Nishinoya crouching in front of him, “You’re not sick or something are ya? You know you shouldn’t play if you’re sick, it’ll only take longer for you to get better,”

                “Uh, I’m not sick, don’t worry Nishinoya-san,” Hinata replied, a slight blush already having coloured his cheeks, brought on from his memories of yesterday evening’s events.

                “Are you sure? You look kind of flushed, if you have a fever or something-,”

                “No no, it’s fine Nishinoya-senpai, I, uh, just stayed up too late last night,” Hinata assured the older boy, who seemed to be appeased with the excuse.

                “Didn’t stay out too late practicin’ with Kageyama didya’?” Tanaka asked, coming over to dote on the boy as well, making sure he wouldn’t be out-senpai’d. Hinata turned a few shades redder and the two older boys snickered, “So that is what you were doin’, I still don’t know where you find all the energy. Even Noya-san gets tired eventually,”

                “Pfft, like you can talk Ryuu,” Nishinoya countered, “You’d do nothing but laze around all day if you could,”

                “And what’s wrong with that?!” Tanaka said, grimacing in mock outrage.

                “Whatever,” Nishinoya gave up, turning back to Hinata, who had managed to regain control of his face, “Just make sure not to stay out too late, team practice comes first and Suga-san isn’t gonna be too pleased if he finds out that your too tired to practice ‘cause you’ve been practicing all night with Kageyama,”

                “Speak of the devil,” Tanaka whispered to the two as Sugawara approached, Daichi and Asahi in tow, to see why Hinata had been so distracted all morning.

                “Hey Hinata, are you feeling alright?”Sugawara asked in a concerned voice, “You know if you’re sic-“

               “Don’t worry Suga-san,” Tanaka said confidently, “This boy is lucky enough to have the two best senpai in the world. We already cautioned him about playing while with illness or fatigue,”

                “’With illness or fatigue’?” Sugawara asked with derision,

                “I’m still stuck on ‘two best senpai in the world’,” Daichi muttered from behind, causing Tanka and Nishinoya to start preparing to defend their honour as senpai.

                “Uh, Hinata,” Asahi started hurriedly, trying to change topic to avoid further insult, “Did you catch up with Kageyama yesterday? I’m, uh, sorry if I offended him – I didn’t mean to,”

                “Kageyama?” Sugawara asked sharply turning to look at Hinata, Nishinoya elbowing Asahi in the hip for bringing up _that_ topic, of all possible topics, “Why was Kageyama here? I told him he’s not allowed to use the gym if he’s not in a club,”

                “B-but we were all here, and, it wasn’t a real practice or anything so, I thought it was fine,” Hinata tried to defend himself, “Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san said it was okay!” He pointed at the two boys who suddenly started rambling about how they figured it’d be fine and he didn’t stay anyway so who cares, right? Sugawara just glared at them for a moment, then Daichi put his hand on Sugawara’s shoulder and stepped forward,

                “It’s fine, it wasn’t a real practice and as long as you were all fine with letting Kageyama join in I see no reason why he can’t practice with you in your spare time,” Sugawara looked like he was about to say something, but Daichi just squeezed his shoulder slightly and he immediately stepped back meekly, clearly dropping the issue for now.

                “Now,” Daichi said, “Shouldn’t you all be getting to class? I’m not going to be held responsible if you’re late,”. They all began filing off to the club room to get changed into their uniforms and get their things, not wanting to be late for class and risk a talking to about tardiness.

 

*******

 

                Hinata spent the last twenty minutes of class fidgeting, anxious about going to lunch and seeing Kageyama. _What is he going to say?_ Hinata thought worriedly, _Does he really like me? Do I like him? Should I do something? Maybe I just should wait for him to bring it up, but what if he doesn’t?_

                “Hinata,” the teacher called from out front, snapping Hinata from his thoughts, “Do you need to use the bathroom, or do you think you can wait until lunch?” she asked in a condescending tone. Hinata just shook his head, embarrassed, and tried to control his fidgeting.

                As soon as class ended, Hinata grabbed his bento and rushed out of class towards the back of the gym to see if Kageyama was there. When he got there he wasn’t, but it was still pretty early (he’d practically run there), so he sat down against the wall and began slowly picking at his lunch while he waited.

                A few minutes passed and Kageyama wandered around the corner of the gym, jumping when he saw Hinata was already there and looking shocked for a minute while Hinata hurriedly tried to finish his mouthful of food so he could say hello. Before he could swallow, Kageyama suddenly bowed in half,

                “Uh, I’m sorry, please forgive me!” he half-shouted in panic.

                “Eh?!” Hinata finally swallowed his mouthful of food, half-choking when Kageyama had unexpectedly started apologising, “Forgive you, for what?”

                “Please forgive me for yesterday’s actions, I was, uh, sick. I think maybe I had food poisoning and, uh, the flu – at once, and um, I must have just collapsed or something. Uh, thank you for looking after me yesterday, I promise it won’t happen again,” Kageyama remained bowed in half, body practically bent at a perfect 90 degrees, while Hinata just looked up half in shock and lost for words.

                “You mean, you don’t like me?” Hinata finally said, sounding a little disappointed,

                “O-of course!” Kageyama cried, still bowing but now shaking slightly as he spoke, “Th-that would be wrong, a-and gross. I mean, we’re both boys, so...”

                “...Am I really that gross?” Hinata asked quietly, causing Kageyama to crane his head upwards slightly to see him from his bowed position, “Is the idea of liking me really so gross?”

                “O-of course, your a boy, a-and I’m a boy,” Kageyama tried to explain, “Don’t you think that’s gross?”

                “No,” Hinata answered simply, “No one’s ever liked me or confessed to me or anything before. It was really nice, I didn’t think you were gross at all, just, just nice...”

                “B-but, don’t you think it’s gross and wrong and, uh, bad and stuff? It’s not na-natural to feel  like that,”

                “Says who?!” Hinata asked, getting up now, forcing Kageyama to stand up properly to talk to him.

                “Who? Everyone, right?” Kageyama said, starting to look a little confused, “I-it’s on the tv and in newspapers and stuff, a-and people are always saying bad things like-“

                “That’s stupid!” Hinata yelled, “If you like someone, you should just like them, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kageyama started sputtering, trying to come up with some kind of argument but unsure of how he had failed so far, “What do you think?”

                “What?” Kageyama asked, taken aback by the question and not quite sure how to respond.

                “Do you like me or not?” Hinata asked sharply, “Do _you_ think it’s gross, or weird, or unnatural or whatever?” Kageyama just stood there, mouth opening and closing like a fish, completely lost for words, “Well?”

                “I, I don’t know,” Kageyama said cautiously, as if expecting something to happen,

                “You don’t know if you like me, or you don’t know if you think it’s gross?” Hinata asked

                “I don’t know,” Kageyama said quietly, clenching his eyes shut.

                “That’s okay,” Hinata said, stepping over to Kageyama and bringing him into a light hug, “But if it helps, I think that I maybe like you too,” Kageyama stiffened as Hinata wrapped his arms around him, trying to pull back,

                “What if someone sees?” he asked fearfully,

                “We’re the only people here,” Hinata reassured him, keeping a grip on the boy to make sure he couldn’t run off, “And so what if they did, I’m only hugging you, who cares?”

                “So, it’s okay to hug people?” Kageyama asked tentatively, “It doesn’t mean you’re... _gay_?”

                “Pfft, no,” Hinata chuckled softly, “I’m pretty sure hugging doesn’t make people gay,” Kageyama slid his arms around Hinata’s back before bringing them in tightly, pulling the smaller boy into a deep hug, “Hahaha, Kageyama stop, I can’t breathe,” Hinata laughed at the setter’s sudden embrace.

                “Sorry,” Kageyama apologised, pulling off the boy before standing there awkwardly, unsure of what to do now.

                “That’s okay,” Hinata just grinned at the uncertain look on Kageyama’s face, “You’ll just have to practice a bunch!”


	12. Our Kouhei Needs Us!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> New chapter, yay! The start of this chapter is a little awkward I think, mostly because of where I chose to finish the last chapter, so sorry about that. We do have a return of the amazing senpai duo though, some of you seemed to really like them, so I hope you enjoy their part. Next episode will be Sugamama's turn (actual Sugamama too for those who might be worried). I'm honestly surprised at myself that I got this far in, I figured I'd have stopped after like a week, but I just keep thinking of all the different little things I want to happen (as well as a possible Suga spin-off that I think about way too much considering I probably won't start it until this is about done). Thank you though to everyone who continues to read and comment, and all the people who are new and have actually managed to read this far in :D
> 
> nightshade

                “What are you smiling about?!” Kageyama asked Hinata, slamming his chopsticks down.

                “Nothing,” Hinata said quietly, cheeks lightly dusted pink and a small smile permanently stuck on his face. They’d been sitting like that for a few minutes now, a few feet apart, slowly picking at their lunch. Hinata would just keep grinning to himself, looking up at Kageyama every now and again, only to glance back down at his bento whenever the setter happened to catch him, the blush on his face heating up every time.

                “It must be something,” Kageyama continued, starting to get fidgety, “You didn’t lie to me did you – if you did you have to tell me!”

                “No,” Hinata just said reassuringly, looking up at Kageyama again, “It just feels kind of weird, you know?”

                “Weird?!” Kageyama panicked, suddenly concerned he’d been tricked or something, becoming skittish and unsure what to do,

                “Not in a bad way or anything!” Hinata explained, Kageyama still looking somewhat unconvinced, “Like exciting, or something? I don’t know, I’m just all FWAAH inside,” he said, flailing his arms wildly to emphasise his point, “No one’s ever confessed to me or anything before, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do,”

                “Do?!” Kageyama squawked, clearly never having thought that far ahead, “What do you mean do?!”

                “Well, I mean, are we like, dating or something now?” Hinata asked, just as much to himself as to Kageyama.

                “Dating! B-but we’re both boys we can’t be dating!” Kageyama spluttered

                “Well why not?” Hinata replied indignantly, “What did you think would happen?”

                “I-I don’t know, but we can’t just date though,” Kageyama said, feeling Hinata’s questioning gaze, “I mean, people would see us or something, a-and then they’d know, and-“ Kageyama started panicking, terrified of what might happen if someone else were to find out he liked Hinata. Alarmed by Kageyama’s panic, Hinata scuffled over beside him and tried to calm him down,

                “I-it’s okay Kageyama,” Hinata tried to reassure the setter, gently squeezing his arm to get him to focus on what he was saying, “If you don’t want anyone to know, I won’t tell anyone,”

                “Really?” Kageyama asked anxiously, slowly calming down as Hinata attempted to reassure him, “You won’t?”

                “No, I won’t,” Hinata said, “Not if you don’t want me to. You don’t need to freak out all the time, I don’t hate you or something, so why would I do something mean like that?”

                Kageyama seemed to accept that Hinata wasn’t planning to go blabbing to everyone he knew, and just had to hope that he wouldn’t let it slip by accident. He sat in thoughtful silence for a few minutes, Hinata going back to picking at the last of his bento, waiting for Kageyama to figure out whatever he was thinking about.

                “Maybe, if you want, we could be friends or something?” Kageyama asked cautiously after a while, causing Hinata to look up, mid-mouthful and pull a weird face, “I-I mean, only if you wanted to or something! I thought maybe that might be okay…”

                “But Kageyama,” Hinata responded, having finished chewing his food, “Aren’t we already friends?” Kageyama just looked at Hinata blankly for a second, not really sure what to say, “I mean, what makes you think we aren’t friends?” Hinata asked.

                “Well, we only ever meet to practice volleyball and stuff, aren’t friends supposed to do other things too?” Kageyama explained. Hinata still looked unsure of what Kageyama was trying to get at, “I just mean, like, in manga and stuff they’d always go places together, or play video games, or something…” Kageyama continued, starting to get embarrassed that his knowledge of ‘what friends did’ largely came from manga and TV shows.

                “Mhmmm,” Hinata hummed in thought, trying to think of what they could do, “Give me your phone,” he asked Kageyama suddenly, who had to rifle through his sports bag until he eventually found it and apprehensively handed it to Hinata, unsure of what exactly he intended to do. Hinata grabbed the phone quickly, “Did you get a new phone?” he asked in a distracted voice,

                “No, why?” Kageyama responded, confused by the question

                “Oh… no reason,” Hinata responded, adding his contact beneath Kageyama’s parents numbers. _He doesn’t even have any numbers of people from middle school or anything_ , Hinata thought a little sadly, _Maybe I really am his first real friend…_ He quickly sent himself a message to add Kageyama’s number to his own phone and then handed it back. Kageyama took the phone back quickly to see what Hinata had done, only to find the new contact. Hinata couldn’t help but feel that warm FWAAHHH feeling again when he noticed Kageyama smile a little bit as he looked down at his phone.

                “Now you can text me and stuff,” Hinata explained, “And we could meet up or something on weekends if you wanted,” Kageyama just nodded, still smiling a little bit before the bell rang and they had to head their separate ways to class, Kageyama trying to navigate his way through the throng of students while still looking down at his phone’s tiny screen as Hinata took off in the direction of his own classroom.

 

                *******

 

                Practice that afternoon went relatively smoothly, Hinata actually being able to pay attention long enough to spike the ball when it was his turn, although he did still zone out a few times between exercises. Although he’d managed to confirm that Kageyama did in fact like him, it still left him with questions. _I still feel like I should do something_ , Hinata thought, _If Kageyama likes me then shouldn’t I do something. I always thought when someone confessed to you, you were supposed to start dating, but Kageyama doesn’t want to? But what else are you even supposed to do when someone likes you?_

                Groaning out loud in frustration, Sugawara paused as he walked past, wondering what the problem was,

                “Are you still feeling a bit off?” Sugawara asked in a concerned tone, “I know you said this morning that you were just tired, but you shouldn’t overexert yourself or you really will get sick,”

                “It’s okay Sugawara-san, I’m not tired, uh,” Hinata started to say, _Maybe Sugawara-san would know what to do, he seemed to know about this stuff before_ , Hinata thought to himself, _But I don’t know if Sugawara-san really likes me all that much now, especially if he knew the other person was Kageyama who he_ really _doesn’t like_ , “Uh, don’t worry Sugawara-san, it’s nothing,” Hinata said after a pause, a smile stuck on his face.

                “Well, okay then,” Sugawara replied, not entirely convinced by the boy’s reassurances, “But if you need to take a break make sure you do – and drink plenty of water!” he said as he left to go over to help Asahi with his spiking exercises.

                _I wonder if there’s anyone else who might know something about dating and stuff?_ Hinata pondered to himself, walking over to the side of the gym and taking a few sips from his water bottle, making sure Sugawara saw him doing it so he wouldn’t ask again later. _Tsukishima always has girls confessing to him (even though he’s a jerk!), but he never dates any of them so he’s probably no help._ Hinata’s focus was distracted by shouting from the other end of the gym. Apparently Tanaka had whipped off his shirt again and was flailing it around in the air in a vain attempt to impress Kiyoko, while Daichi tried to convince him to put it back on again.

                _Oh right, maybe Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san know about dating!_ Hinata thought excitedly, _They’re always talking about dating pretty girls and stuff – and they tried to help me before. Plus they don’t seem to hate Kageyama like Sugawara does._ Convinced that his two senpai had the answers he needed, he made his way down to the other end of the gym where the ruckus appeared to be settling down.

                By the time he got there Daichi had already managed to scold Tanaka into putting his shirt back on, although he was grumbling the entire time. Kiyoko, unimpressed by the entire display, appeared to have left already, much to Tanaka’s disapointment. Nishinoya was just standing to the side slightly from where he’d been egging on Tanaka until Daichi had arrived on the scene, conveniently hushing up once the captain was in earshot so as to avoid getting any of the blame.

                “Nishinoya-senpai,” Hinata asked, tugging on the edge of Nishinoya’s shirt from behind to get his attention.

                “Yes, my lucky kouhei,” Nishinoya immediately replied, eager as always to take on the role of senpai extraordinairre.

                “Um,” Hinata started, suddenly realising he wasn’t entirely sure how to bring up such a topic, “I was wondering if, uh, maybe you could give me some advice about... stuff?” Nishinoya’s face lit up, eyes sparkling,

                “Ryuu! Get over here!” he called to his partner-in-crime, who had since finished being scolded by Daichi and was looking all the worse because of it, “Our kouhei needs us!” Sour mood melted away as Tanaka dashed over to the two shorter boys, striking a pose when he arrived.

                “What do you need, my kouhei?” he asked, maintaining the ridiculous pose while Hinata just looked up with confidence. Surely he had made the right decision in coming to these two.

                “He needs some advice from his worldly and experienced senpai,” Nishinoya explained

                “Well then fire away, tell us what problems plague you and we shall give you the answers you seek!” Tanaka announced boldly, drawing a few amused glances from other team mates who were busy packing up.

                “Umm,” Hinata said awkwardly, suddenly remembering that not only could he not reveal Kageyama’s involvement in his problem, he was also realising that it was somewhat of an embarrassing topic to begin with, “Could we maybe talk somewhere else... I, uh, don’t really want anyone else to know,”

                “Oooh, secrets,” Nishinoya sang with glee, rubbing his hands together, “Come on the Ryuu, let’s go somewhere with more, _privacy_ ,”

                The three of them waved good bye to the others, who were already largely done with packing up (the whole process apparently being a lot faster when Tanaka and Nishinoya _didn’t_ help), and walked up to the club room, where they’d be able to hear anyone coming in.

                “So,” Tanaka started, the three sitting down in a small circle on the floor, “What can we do for ya?”

                “Well, um, I was wondering,” Hinata began, Nishinoya and Tanaka nodding along eagerly, “What do you do when someone, uh, confesses to you, I guess?” Nishinoya and Tanaka looked Taken aback, Nishinoya clutching at his chest dramatically while Tanaka swooned back, hand held against his forehead aghast,

                “Ryuu, our little kouhei has a girlfriend,” Nishinoya gasped,

                “They grow up so fast,” Tanaka said, wiping a fake tear from his eye, “I can already see it, romantic dates in the park, homemade bentos, cheering at all of his volleyball matches,”

                “Ehhh! No,” Hinata exclaimed, to his two senpai’s confusion, “We’re not dating or anything,”

                “But you said someone confessed to you?” Nishinoya started, “Did you reject them!”

                “Hinata, the heart-breaking shrimp from class 1,” Tanaka rhapsodised, “Whoever would have guessed it,”

                “Noooo, not that either,” Hinata whined, wishing they’d let him finish. The two were now really confused and appeared willing to hear the boy out properly this time, so Hinata continued, “This, uh, this person, confessed to me, but they don’t want to date me, so I wanted to know if there was anything else I could do – you know, besides dating,”

                “Let me get this straight,” Tanaka said, “They like you, but they don’t want to date you? What kind of crazy girl is this? Maybe you should just leave her be-“

                “Oooh, maybe she’s already dating someone, and just wants Hinata like, on the side!” Nishinoya speculated.

                “What a horrible thing to do! Not to our precious kouhei!” Tanaka gasped, “You should tell that girl that it’s either you or the other guy!”

                “It’s nothing like that, they just, uh, they just think dating is a bad idea. They don’t really want anyone else to know...” Seeing that he was going to have to give the two something if he wanted their advice, Hinata finally conceded, “’Cause, you know, it’s a guy,” he said in an almost whisper, “And he doesn’t really want anyone to know that he likes another guy. I don’t really get it, but, for some reason he really doesn’t want anyone to know,”

                “Ohh,” Tanaka and Nishinoya said in unison, understanding dawning on their faces, “Hmm, that’s a tough one,” Tanaka agreed,

                “I mean, I guess I can see why they might want to keep it quiet. Not everyone’s as thick-skinned as you seem to be, and with uh, certain people around, they might not want people knowing,” Nishinoya explained to Hinata.

                “Well, is there anything I can do then?” Hinata asked, “I feel like I should do something. I mean, no one’s ever confessed to me or anything before, so, I kinda feel like I should do something too. To, you  know, tell them that I like them too...” Hinata got quieter as he continued, facing having started to go red by the end of the sentence.

                “Ooooh, so you like them too,” Tanaka gushed, “That’s so sweet, our kouhei’s first crush,”

                “What do you like about them then?” Nishinoya asked, eager to get all the gossip, “Maybe we’ll be able to guess who it is,” he said nudging Tanaka. Before he could respond, or Hinata could tell them he wasn’t going to say who it was, the door swung open revealing a very stern-looking Ennoshita.

                “I thought I warned you two last time,” he said in a slightly menacing voice, walking across the room to pick Tanaka up by his ear, “I told you to stop corrupting our kouhei or I’d tell the captain,”

                “But we weren’t doing anything bad, we were just giving our kouhei some advice,” Tanaka tried to defend himself to no avail.

                “Advice, why exactly did you need to take him to a closed room after practice to give him ‘advice’?”

                “That’s private,” Nishinoya jumped in, winking at Hinata to tell him that his secret was safe with them. Unfortunately the motion didn’t exactly convince Ennoshita of their innocence.

                “Come on, I’m taking you two the captain, you can explain yourselves to him,” Ennoshita said, dragging Tanaka out of the room, still maintaining a firm grip on his now throbbing ear, Nishinoya trailing behind trying to make up excuses.

                Hinata just sighed, evidently he wasn’t going to get any advice out of his senpai today. Maybe he’d try again later, but for now he figured he may as well go home. Collecting his things, he made his way to the bicycle rails and hopped on his bike, the only one left by this hour, and began the long trip over the mountain home.

 

                *******

 

                Hinata was lying in bed, tired after the day’s events, both physically and mentally. As he curled up on his side under his cool sheets, his phone buzzed jarringly from his bedside table. He blindly reached out for it, grabbing it and pulling it up to his face, squinting from the bright light of the screen. _Who would even be texting me at this hour? Is it Kenma again?_

                He looked at his inbox to see a new message from Kageyama Tobio – ‘ _Good night_ ’ Hinata grinned to himself, clutching the phone to his chest under the sheets. The thought of Kageyama lying in bed at home, thinking about him enough to text him good night, made him inexplicably happy. He quickly pulled the phone back out to text a reply – ‘ _Good night. See you tomorrow <3_’ He hit the send button before he could think about it, wondering if the heart was a bit too much. Normally he wouldn’t think twice about littering his texts with all kinds of garish emoticons, but for some reason texting Kageyama had made him a lot more self-conscious.

                Putting the phone back on his bedside table, he rolled over so he wouldn’t be tempted to grab it again and tried to go to sleep. For a while all he could think of was what Kageyama would do when he read his reply, but eventually his fatigue overtook him and he fell asleep.


	13. What Does Less Than Three Mean?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiii,
> 
> Sorry this took a little longer than I thought it would. It ended up a little longer than I thought it would too :P Prepare as this is probably the end of their little angst reprieve as next chapter I plan to bring bigger and better angst! Thank you all for reading, as usual, I love getting notifications for kudos and comments - it's what reminds me I need to write something :)
> 
> So without further ado, chapter 13,
> 
> nightshade

                Hinata woke up the next morning, lying groggily in his bed for a few moments before rolling onto his side. He noticed his phone sitting on the bedside table and reaches out for it, quickly pulling the device towards him so that his arm was back in the warmth of his blankets. He checked his messages and was surprised to find himself a little disappointed that there was no good morning text to greet him from Kageyama.

                _That was stupid_ , Hinata thought, reluctantly pulling the covers off and flinching at the crisp early morning air, _Why would Kageyama even send me a good morning text? He doesn’t even have morning practices anymore, so he’s probably still asleep_. Getting dressed in a rush, he grabbed his bento from the fridge, made the night before by his mother, and got on his bike to ride to school.

                Morning practice was fine, well as fine as it could be with Kageyama still missing. Ever since the setter had been forced to leave Hinata felt like practices just weren’t as good. It wasn’t even that Kageyama was a good setter, and so now the team was a little weaker ( _No offence Sugawara-san_ , Hinata thought). Somehow everything just seemed a little less productive, he missed that extra bit of motivation that practicing with Kageyama brought.

                The only thing that really seemed to stick out at this particular practice was that Sugawara kept glancing at Hinata every now and again, as if he wanted to say something to him, but he kept getting pulled away or distracted by something, so never had the chance. As the team was finishing cleaning up the morning practice, Hinata tried to slip away a little early so as to avoid giving Sugawara a chance to catch him. Hinata knew he was only delaying the inevitable, but he really didn’t want to fight with Sugawara, wanting to hold onto the little bit of peace he’d managed to find for just a little longer.

                Unfortunately, Sugawara was one step ahead of him and was already waiting in the club room as Hinata tried to slip in quickly to grab his things before rushing to class for probably the first time ever.

                “Hinata, you know I get the feeling you’ve been avoiding me all morning,” Sugawara greeted in a knowing tone as Hinata stepped through the door, causing the boy to jump.

                “S-Sugawara-san, of course I wasn’t avoiding you, why would I do that?” Hinata asked, trying to act casually.

                “I’m not an idiot Hinata,” Sugawara said before reassuring him, “Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble or anything, although I’m now suspicious as to why you thought you’d be in trouble in the first place?”

                “Well,” Hinata started in a quiet voice, “Recently whenever we talk, we always end up arguing and stuff, and I didn’t really want to do that so...”

                “Hinata,” Sugawara said, sounding a little demoralised, “I’m sorry, I know we’ve both said a few harsh things to each other recently, but I didn’t mean to ostracise you or anything. I just want to try and help you, so when I see you making mistakes sometimes I-“

                “Kageyama’s not a mistake, Sugawara-san,” Hinata announced resolutely, “You can’t just-“

                “I thought you said you didn’t want to argue?” Sugawara interjected. Hinata looked at him sharply, “I’m not here to talk about Kageyama, Hinata. I know we have different thoughts on the matter and we aren’t likely to resolve them anytime soon, but I don’t want that to make you think that it’s you I have an issue with. I don’t, Kageyama’s the one I have an issue with, not you, so I don’t want you to feel like you can’t talk to me anymore. I’m still your vice-captain, and your team mate, so I’d like to think that you can still trust me both on and off the court,”

                Hinata nodded meekly, looking a little sad as he remembered some of the hurtful things he’d said to Sugawara recently, _Even though I wasn’t wrong, I was still pretty mean to Sugawara-san, even though he’s normally really nice to everyone_ , he thought.

                “I’m sorry Sugawara-san, I guess I just got a little too upset about everything,” Hinata apologised, “But I’m still gonna hang out with Kageyama!” Sugawara put his hands up to concede, clearly not expecting Hinata to have changed his mind on the matter, just happy that they seemed to be able to talk again, “What did you want to talk about anyway?” Hinata asked.

                “What? Oh right, Daichi asked me to come talk to you, although I think he was more concerned with getting us to actually speak than anything,” Sugawara explained, “Apparently a concerned Ennoshita approached him yesterday with a pair of very apologetic second years and Daichi wanted me to talk to you to make sure that you weren’t permanently scarred,”

                “No, I’m fine,” Hinata chuckled, happy to hear Sugawara talking like his normal self, “Uh, but maybe you can help me instead, you, uh, seemed to know a lot about this kind of stuff,”

                “What is it Hinata, like I said you can talk to me about anything, and I’m pretty confident that no matter what it is I could be of more use to you than those two,” Sugawara said as the sounds of the rest of the team could be heard coming up the stairs to the club room, apparently having finished tidying up.

                “Uh, it’s kind of personal,” Hinata tried to explain to the boy,

                “Don’t worry,” Sugawara said, having noticed the team as well, “You can talk to me whenever, how about you come find me and lunch today if that’s fine with you?”

                “Uh, sure!” Hinata agreed as the team started filing into the room and they all began changing and getting ready for school.

 

                *******

 

                The school bell rang signalling the start of lunch as Takeda-sensei attempted to explain the homework they’d have to hand in next time, his gentle nature failing him as most of the students began to pull out their lunches already, many already moving to leave the room. He soon gave up, smiling weakly at Hinata as he waved at him in his rush to leave the room. Hinata was pretty sure Sugawara normally had lunch with Daichi and Asahi at a table near the library, so he headed straight there. He thought for a moment that maybe he should go see if Kageyama was by the gym first but figured it would be better to see Sugawara first and maybe get some answers before seeing Kageyama (plus if he started playing volleyball with Kageyama lunch would be over before he would realise and he would have left Sugawara waiting).

                Heading over towards their table, Hinata saw the trio sitting there eating already. As he approached Daichi noticed him first, giving him a quizzical look,

                “Hello Hinata,” he greeted, “Is there something we can help you with?”

                “Oh sorry Daichi, I forgot to tell you,” Sugawara started explaining before Hinata could, “I promised Hinata I’d help him with something today, so I might be a while,”

                “Okay?” Daichi said curiously as Sugawara quickly packed up his neat little bento and waved goodbye as he led Hinata away, who was just absently waving at the captain who was still looking on curiously, Asahi meekly waving back but not really sure if anyone was noticing him.

                “Are you sure it’s okay Sugawara-san?” Hinata asked, “We could talk after school or something if you want to have lunch with Daichi-san and Asahi-san?”

                “No that’s okay Hinata, I’ve already finished eating,” Sugawara replied completely ignoring the second half of the question. He led them over to an empty bench under a tree near the running track where some of the second year boys were running foot races. Sugawara almost got up and moved when he noticed a very specific second year whipping his shirt around his head in victory, but decided it was better to ignore him when it wasn’t his responsibility.

                “So, Hinata,” Sugawara began, “What exactly is it you wanted my help with?”

                “Well,” Hinata began awkwardly, “I kind of don’t really know what to do, because I’ve, uh, never really been in this kind of situation before,” Sugawara just looked at him encouragingly, waiting for him to tell him what the problem was, “Well, you see, someone kind of confessed to me – kind of,” Hinata started to be interrupted by a slight squeak from Sugawara,

                “Sorry,” Sugawara apologised, clearing his throat, “Please, continue,”

                “Well, like I said, someone confessed to me,” Hinata continued, ignoring Sugawara’s excited looks, “But, uh, I’m not really sure what to do now because they don’t really want anyone to know,”

                “What do you mean?” Sugawara asked, still a little too excited by the boy’s story, “Why doesn’t she want to date you? She did confess to you didn’t she, it wasn’t meant for Tsukishima or something was it?”

                “No!” Hinata humphed, “It was meant for me, but it was, uh, a boy though,” he ended quietly, Sugawara giving him a knowing look, “That’s why I thought you might be able to help, because you seemed to know about that kind of stuff...”

                “So, do you like him back, I guess is the first question,” Sugawara started, settling down to look at Hinata so as to give him all of his attention. Hinata nodded, unsure,

                “I think, maybe. I don’t know,” Hinata tried to explain, “I mean I really, really like him. He seems really nice and cool and stuff, but I don’t know if I _like_ him. But I think maybe I might, sometimes he makes my chest be all FWAAHH and stuff, like always happens in the movies and things,”

                “Well,” Sugawara chuckled at Hinata’s theatrics, “I suppose that’s good enough, I’d say from the sounds of it you probably like him, at least a little,”

                “So what am I supposed to do then?” Hinata asked hopelessly, “I always thought that when two people liked each other they’d, you know, go on dates and stuff. I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do,”

                “Hmm,” Sugawara hummed thoughtfully, “I can understand why they might not want anyone to know, so I won’t ask who it is,” Sugawara started, although Hinata could practically tell from the look on his face the vice captain was already starting to go through all the boys in Hinata’s class trying to figure out who it might be, “But if they don’t want to tell anyone that’s their business, the question is are you okay with not telling anyone?”

                “What do you mean?” Hinata asked, unsure of what that was supposed to mean,

                “Well, you aren’t exactly the most, uh, subtle person Hinata,” Sugawara tried to gently explain, “While I’m sure some people might find that endearing, evidently some do, you’re not exactly the kind of person to keep a secret,”

                “That’s not true, I can keep a secret if it’s important!” Hinata defended himself, “I mean, I never told anyone about that time Daichi-san told me to keep a secret!”

                “What secret?” Sugawara immediately asked, clearly forgetting what they were originally talking about, “Pfft, it doesn’t matter I probably know it anyway... So you can tell me anyway, what secret?”

                Hinata shook his head emphatically, unwilling to spill. Sugawara, after attempted bribery with meat buns was still unable to crack him so gave up,

                “Fine, I guess you can keep a secret,” the older boy conceded, “So I guess then you want to date this person, without dating them?” Hinata nodded, confused but hoping the boy’s words would start making sense soon, “Well, I don’t really know, you could try dating in secret or something, but if their trying to keep it a secret from everyone it might be hard to avoid their friends getting suspicious or something,”

                “Uh, I don’t think they have many friends, so I don’t know if that’s really a big deal,” Hinata mumbled.

                “Really, are they new or something – is it that new transfer student in Tanaka’s class?!”

                “No! I thought you said you wouldn’t ask,” Hinata retorted, Sugawara apologising sheepishly, “I don’t know why they don’t really have many friends, I mean he’s really nice and stuff, but I think maybe people don’t give him much of a chance…” Hinata explained sadly, feeling a little sorry for Kageyama.

                “Well,” Sugawara suggested, looking at the sad look on Hinata’s face fondly, “Maybe you should start off just being their friend, it sounds like maybe they need one. I’m sure they’d be lucky to have a friend who cares about them as much as you seem to. And you know, it’s probably not that different to actually dating, you can still go places together and get to know each other and stuff. Maybe you’ll just sort of end up together anyways,”

                “Really,” Hinata asked hopefully, glad that he had a bit of a better idea of how to approach the problem now, “Thanks Sugawara-san,” he said cheerfully.

                “No problem Hinata,” Sugawara replied, ruffling the shorter boy’s hair, “I’m glad I can help my cute little kouhei with his first crush,” Sugawara beamed while Hinata just grumbled slightly as a slight blush coloured his cheeks.

                “How do you know so much about this stuff anyway Sugawara-san?” Hinata asked curiously, before moaning, “It wasn’t books was it, I suck at reading, I never know what half the word mean,”

                “No, Hinata it’s not from reading books,” Sugawara chuckled before continuing somewhat anxiously, “It’s, uh, you have to promise not to tell anyone,” Hinata nodded solemnly, happy with the fact that his senpai trusted him to tell him some kind of secret, “Well, I’m gay too, so I kinda learnt a lot of this stuff myself, just from experience and you know, the internet and stuff,”

                “Really?!” Hinata exclaimed loudly,

                “Shhh!” Sugawara hushed him, looking around for a moment to make sure no one had paid any attention to the outburst (thankfully most people nearby were gawking at a teacher reprimanding a sullen looking student for not wearing a shirt), “I told you it’s a secret, only Daichi knows, and maybe Asahi as well, I’m not sure,” Sugawara explained, Hinata feeling a little humbled again that the vice captain had been willing to tell him something like that.

                “I-is that why you don’t like Kageyama so much?” Hinata asked cautiously after a moment, not wanting to really bring up the topic in fear of another argument, but unable to stop himself from asking, “Because he doesn’t like gay people?”

                “Partly,” Sugawara sighed, “I don’t really want to go into it,” he explained, Hinata nodding to signal he understood, “But, seeing as you brought it up, have you thought about what Kageyama might do if he finds out?”

                “I mean, I don’t think he’ll do anything Sugawara-san, and he already kind of doesn’t like you ‘cause he blames you for getting kicked off the team,” Hinata started

                “Not about me,” Sugawara explained a little tersely, “About you and… whoever? I mean, this person likely wants to keep it a secret that they like you because of people like him. And I know you seem to tolerate Kageyama for now, but if he finds out you’re actually ‘dating’ a boy he might start getting worse. Are you really sure you want to keep hanging around him?”

                “Don’t worry Sugawara-san,” Hinata reassured his senpai, struggling a little to not smile at the irony of Sugawara’s concern, “I’ll make sure Kageyama doesn’t do anything bad,”

                “If you really think it’ll be okay,” Sugawara said, still uncertain, “But remember, Kageyama isn’t your responsibility, it’s not your job to keep him in line,” Hinata just smiled, confident that there wouldn’t be an issue. “Fine,” Sugawara sighed, “I guess you’d better be off then – say hello to your new friend for me!” he said with a mischievous grin.

                Hinata waved goodbye, running off in the direction of the gym to see if Kageyama was there, his talk with Sugawara taking a little longer than he’d expected. On his way he stopped when he suddenly heard Kageyama’s voice nearby, looking around he noticed the setter was talking to Nishinoya and Tanaka, who looked a little peeved by Kageyama’s presence, _At least they’re talking to him though_ , Hinata thought thankfully, _I don’t think anyone else on the team will_.

                He got a little closer, feeling a little guilty as he started to eavesdrop on their conversation, his curiosity piqued.

                “Please,” Kageyama begged begrudgingly, “I don’t really have anyone else to ask – and it’s important,”

                “Why don’t you just go ask Hinata, or is he only good for hitting volleyballs to you?” Nishinoya asked, voice laced with poison.

                “I can’t ask Hinata,” Kageyama managed through gritted teeth, his already limited patience starting to wear out as the two second years continued to snub him, “Please, I really think it’s important,”

                “Well, I suppose you can at least tell us what the problem is,” Tanaka said, feeling a little sorry for the distraught looking boy.

                “That doesn’t mean we’ll answer though,” Nishinoya added, trying to maintain a certain level of aloofness.

                “Well, uh…” Kageyama stared awkwardly, looking a little embarrassed, then angry that he was looking embarrassed in front of the two.

                “What, are you not even going to tell us now?” Nishinoya exclaimed, fed up with Kageyama and ready to walk away.

                “What does less than three mean?!” Kageyama yelped

                “What?” Nishinoya turned back around, completely confused by Kageyama’s outburst.

                “Someone texted me ‘less than three’ and I didn’t know what it meant, and I think I was meant to do something but I didn’t and now their mad at me and I don’t know what I did wrong so please help me,” Kageyama rambled as Nishinoya and Tanaka looked on stunned by the outpour of words.

                “I don’t believe it,” Nishinoya exclaimed, Kageyama looking worried that maybe he’d said too much, “I can’t believe we’re both still single, but some jerk like Kageyama is getting little lovey-dovey texts from girls,”

                “Try turning it sideways,” Tanaka suggested as he tried to gain control over his laughter, finding the situation more humorous than insulting. Kageyama pulled out his phone, bringing up the message before turning the phone sideways, still looking incredibly confused, “The other way!” Tanaka sputtered through a new bout of laughter, Nishinoya still grumbling away at the unfairness of it all as Kageyama’s face turned red in realisation that less than three when turned on its side resembles a heart.

                “How did you not know that?” Tanaka asked, still giggling a little while Kageyama stood there trying to get his flaming cheeks under control.

                “I-I don’t get m-many texts,” Kageyama stuttered in embarrassment, “Uh, thank you for your help,” he said quickly before quickly walking away, Tanaka still chuckling to himself while trying to convince Nishinoya that it was better to be a bachelor.

                Hinata, who’d been barely able to contain his laughter himself at Kageyama’s obliviousness to emoticons, managed to slip past the two second years, heading off in the direction Kageyama had gone off in. Arriving at their normal spot behind the gym, Hinata found Kageyama sitting down, palms pressed against his cheeks in a vain effort to chase of his blush.

                “Hinata!” he sputtered, looking up to see the boy standing in front of him, “Y-you’re not angry with me?”

                “Why would I be angry with you?” Hinata asked, not able to hold in his giggles anymore, delighting at the fact that it made Kageyama turn an even deeper shade of red.

                “Y-you didn’t show up today, so I th-thought maybe I’d done something wrong or-“

                “Don’t worry,” Hinata reassured the boy who clearly worked himself up over nothing, “I was just talking with Sugawara-san, I didn’t think I’d take so long, I’m sorry,” he apologised. “Maybe, next time I’ll text you or something if I’m not going to come straight away, okay?”

                “Y-you don’t have to do that, I’m sorry,” Kageyama tried to apologise, realising he’d over reacted and was probably acting weird, “I just thought I done something wrong, or maybe you didn’t want to hang out anymore or something. Should I not have texted you last night? Was that wrong or something?”

                “No,” Hinata laughed as Kageyama began to work himself up again, personally finding the whole thing a little endearing, “I told you, you can text me whenever you want, because we’re friends,”

                “I was worried that maybe I’d said something wrong,” Kageyama admitted quietly, “I wanted to text you but I couldn’t think of anything and then it was already night time, so I just sent the first thing I could think of,”

                Hinata just knelt down in front of him and hugged him, finding himself far too happy at the thought of Kageyama sitting there worrying about what to text him and needing to show it somehow. Kageyama stiffened in his embrace, quickly shoving him off with a gentle push before looking around to see if anyone had seen.

                “I-I’m sorry,” Hinata apologised awkwardly, “I-I didn’t really think about that,” he explained, knowing he should of realised that Kageyama wouldn’t really like him hugging him like that in public but still feeling  a little sad that he’d been pushed away anyway.

                “No, I’m sorry,” Kageyama apologised back, “You said hugging was okay for friends… I’m still not really sure what’s okay to do, I just sort of panicked,”

                “Maybe we can just make sure we’re alone first before we hug,” Hinata suggested, “If that would make you feel better about it,”

                “O-okay,” Kageyama agreed before looking around anxiously. After making sure no one was around he stood up and quickly embraced Hinata awkwardly for a second before quickly standing back again, smiling happily, apparently pleased with himself. Hinata just grinned back, happy at least that Kageyama was smiling.

                They spent what little time was left of lunch eating their bento’s, Kageyama having been too worked up before to have eaten, and talking about random things every now and again, content just to sit there together in a comfortable silence before heading back to class.


	14. do u want 2 do something 2mrrw?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH!!! *unintelligible screaming*
> 
> Sorry this took so long. It's also kind of short, but don't worry I've got a long weekend, so I'm going to update tomorrow as well, I already have it all planned out. I'm sorry if this chapter is kind of sucky, I wasn't really sure how to transition from them being friends to "being friends". But we have brief Natsu, handsome Kageyama and even a foreshadowing if you can spot it, so hopefully that's enough to keep your attention even if the writing itself is a little awkward here.
> 
> Thanks as always for your support,
> 
> nightshade

                “Uhhhh!” Hinata groaned, rolling on to his side before groaning again, “I’m so booored!”

                “You could always get a head start on some homework,” his mother suggested as she walked past his door carrying folded laundry. Hinata just groaned even louder, to his mother’s amusement, and he rolled over again, off of the bed and now lying on the floor. He noticed his volleyball next to his head and decided to practice a bit in the back yard.

                He was throwing the ball up and down above his head when Natsu came out to watch him,

                “What are you doing nii-chan?” she asked, plopping herself down on the grass to watch her older brother,

                “I’m practicing volleyball,” he explained absently, trying to concentrate on the ball so he wouldn’t drop it on his face... again.

                “But there’s no one else here,” she pointed out, “Don’t you need lots of people to play volleyball?”

                “Well... yeah, but you said there’s no one else here, so who can I practice with?” Hinata asked, enviously eyeing the popsicle the girl seemed to have pulled out of nowhere and almost dropping the ball.

                “Nii-chan don’t you have friends?” she asked with a mouth full of blue-coloured ice, “Are you one of those ‘loners’ they talk about on the news? Drugs are bad nii-chan, stay in school!”

                Hinata stopped throwing the ball and walked back inside, irritated by a girl with way too much sass for her age who was now giggling at him as he stomped past, her frizzy hair sticking to the popsicle as she waved her hands about in laughter.

                “I do too have friends,” he grumbled as he walked past her, “They’re just... busy today,” he explained lamely, causing the little girl to giggle even more as he stormed back inside. _Besides, they all live on the other side of a mountain_ , he thought bitterly. When he got to his room he flopped back down on his bed again, having dumped the volleyball in the corner of his room, and looked at his alarm clock and groaned, “Uhhh, how is it only eleven thirty?”

                Looking around his room for something that might entertain him for a bit (gaze pointedly avoiding the pile of books in the middle of his messy desk) he settled on his phone, grabbing it to see if he had any messages. He had three from Kenma, two of which were just him complaining about Lev, and one from Nishinoya telling him that he better be ready for Monday. He quickly sent a string of question marks in response to Nishinoya’s vague text, and a hopefully helpful message to Kenma to “stay strong”, before he sighed again, having only killed eight minutes.

                He was about to start groaning again (still better than math homework) when the phone in his hands buzzed violently, startling him and making him drop the phone. After scrambling around trying to retrieve the phone from where it had fallen (somehow it had ended up underneath a pile of papers under his bed – _How do you fall_ under _a pile of paper?!_ Hinata thought frustratedly after he finally found it), he opened it to see a message from Kageyama.

                Quickly unlocking his phone, he opened the message, somewhat disappointed by the lengthy missive of ‘ _Hello_ ’. _Who just sends ‘hello’?_ Hinata thought, unsure whether he was annoyed or amused by the curt text. ‘ _hellllooooo kageyama. what is it??_ ’ Hinata replied, curious as to why Kageyama would send him such a seemingly pointless text out of the blue.

                After a few minutes of waiting, Hinata was about to give up and try doing something else, but then his phone buzzed again, ‘ _Are you busy tomorrow?_ ’. Hinata was halfway through typing out his reply when his phone began buzzing again as a few more messages came in quick succession, ‘ _If you are that’s fine.’ ‘Actually don’t mind, something came up.’ ‘Unless you wanted to do something.’_ ‘ _But we don’t have to._ ’

                ‘ _do u want 2 do something 2mrrw?_ ’ Hinata typed out quickly, hitting send before Kageyama could send something else. Another pause, thankfully shorter this time, before Kageyema replied, ‘ _Yes._ ’. Hinata thought for a moment before asking, ‘ _do u want 2 come here or shud i go there?_ ’, not sure if Kageyama would be willing to come over the mountain just to hang out, but also not really wanting to ride over the mountain himself on the on the weekend when he already had to do it every day during the week.

                ‘ _I can catch the bus there if you want?_ ’ Kageyama responded. ‘ _ok. do u want 2 meet @ 10? i will wait at bus stop :)_ ’ Hinata sent, before quickly sending a precautionary follow up, ‘ _:) is a smiley face_ ’

                After confirming that they would meet tomorrow, Hinata was excited, not that many people ever came over the mountain to hang out, normally he had to go into town. Plus we was a little excited just to meet Kageyama outside of school, it reminded him that Sugawara had said that being friends mightn’t be that different to dating, so maybe they would do ‘date-y’ things, whatever they were.

                _I can’t bring him here_ , Hinata thought, trying to plan out what they could do tomorrow, _Natsu’s here and she’ll just be annoying, besides there’s nothing here very exciting. Maybe we can just go to the park and practice volleyball or something, we both like volleyball. But that wouldn’t really be any different to school. Hmmm..._

                Finally, Hinata settled on making bentos to take to the park with them tomorrow, because people in anime and stuff always made bentos for the person they liked right? (Plus Hinata wanted to prove to Kageyama that he was a better cook than him). For that reason, Hinata spent half of the afternoon trying to make two bentos. Initially he had planned on quite a variety of different foods, but many were scrapped early on once Hinata realised the difficulty of preparing many of them after hasty Google searches. Only after he had overcooked the rice for the second time did he allow his mother to help him.

                “I only need you to cook the rice,” Hinata humphed, “I can do the rest myself,”

                “Uh-huh,” his mother commented, unconvinced after having watched her son attempt to cook for the past half an hour, “And why exactly do you have to do it? Normally you’re fine to let me make your bentos. Is the other one for someone special?” she asked teasingly

                “No!” Hinata squawked, hoping his cheeks didn’t look as pink as they felt, “It’s just so I can prove to Kageyama that I’m better at cooking than he is! It doesn’t count if I don’t do it,” he explained.

                “I see,” his mother said, “But the rice doesn’t count?” she joked.

                “No one cares about the rice,” Hinata said, “The meat’s the important bit,”

                “Then perhaps you don’t need the rice at all,” his mother said sarcastically, making as if to leave.

                “What? Wait no,” Hinata said, taking his eyes of the cooking meat to talk to his mother, “I’m sorry, please cook the rice,”

                “Okay,” she laughed, “But it looks like the ‘most important bit’ is burning,” Hinata looked back at the meat to see that it was smoking slightly and the edges if the meat had started to blacked. His mother laughed as he desperately turned the het off and tried to rescue what was left of his hard work.

 

                *******

 

                Hinata was walking to the bus stop the next morning, checking his phone as he walked around the last corner, _Good_ , he thought, _It’s only 9:30, I’m not going to be late or anything_. He walked up to the bus stop to see Kageyama already sitting there waiting for him, holding a volleyball in his lap. He stood up once he saw Hinata coming and stood there awkwardly while waiting for him to finish walking over. Once Hinata got closer he started laughing,

                “What are you wearing?!” he giggled, causing Kageyama to look even more uncomfortable as he held the volleyball to his chest.

                “Um, I didn’t know what I was supposed to wear, uh, uh...” Kageyama clearly began to feel foolish and self conscious when he noticed Hinata was just wearing shorts and a T-shirt with an anime character on it, whereas he was wearing dress pants and a button up top.

                “Are you wearing a bow tie?!” Hinata laughed, as Kageyama, whose face was now solid red, struggled to pull the tie off with one hand while holding the volleyball in the other.

                “M-maybe I should go...” Kageyama stammered, bow tie half hanging from around his neck and looking completely mortified.

                “No, wait!” Hinata said, laughter dying quickly when he realised how bad Kageyama felt, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make fun of you,” Kageyama just stood there, looking down at his feet fiercely.

                “I-I didn’t want to look stupid, a-and this is what my mum always makes me wear when we go someplace nice or visit relatives, so I thought... I don’t know, it just didn’t want to look stupid, but I do don’t I?”

                “You don’t look stupid Kageyama,” Hinata reassured him, quietly continuing, “You, uh, look really nice,” Hinata blushed slightly with the admission, “I just don’t know how you intend to play volleyball in that,”

                “Oh, uh, I brought my volleyball clothes too,” Kageyama answered, dashing back over to the bench where he’d been sitting to pick up a duffel bag, “I wasn’t really sure what to bring though...”

                “Oh, do you have room for these?” Hinata asked, shoving the bentos into Kageyama’s hands, “I, uh, made them for today. But if you brought your own lunch or something that’s fine!” Kageyama just accepted the bundle greatfully, placing them into his bag with care, as if they were made of fine china or something, much to Hinata’s amusement. “Let’s go then!” Hinata exclaimed cheerfully, heading off in the direction of the nearby park, Kageyama in tow, “How long have you been here anyway, it’s only 9:30,”

                “Uh, not that long,” Kageyama said stiffly, “I just, uh, didn’t want to be late or anything,” The two of them walked together awkwardly, Kageyama trying to keep pace with Hinata, while trying to keep a few feet of space between them, as the smaller boy started chattering away about the park they were going to, and the nearby arcade and all the other places Kageyama might want to go.


	15. Those People Are Watching Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone,
> 
> As promised, another chapter, and this time we return to angst, the glorious angst. I feel like the plot is starting to get to where I want it to be, but I also kind of feel like the writing is suck in places, so sorry for that, just try and ignore it :) I want to post another chapter either tomorrow or the day after, which should finish off the whole "Hinata and Kageyama's first date" story and we can move on into deeper angst territory and more team members again.
> 
> Thanks as always for reading and all the other good stuff,
> 
> nightshade

                Kageyama and Hinata were sitting on a bench in the small park. Hinata was bouncing the volleyball as they spoke about all kinds of random things they’d never gotten to before. Mostly Hinata told Kageyama all about his favourite TV shows, music, how much he hated maths (which Kageyama vehemently agreed with). Soon it was almost noon and Hinata realised that he’d spent half the morning talking to Kageyama about himself and they hadn’t even played volleyball yet.

                “Uh, so do you want to play some volleyball now?” Hinata asked sheepishly, “Sorry I kind of got carried away telling you all that boring stuff,”

                “It’s fine, it wasn’t boring,” Kageyama shook his head slightly, “But we can play volleyball now if you want,”. They both stood up and Kageyama followed Hinata to a patch of grass near the edge of the park. Kageyama dumped his bag on the ground and took the volleyball from Hinata, rolling it around in his hands for a few seconds to get the feel of it before looking to see if Hinata was ready.

                “Don’t you want to change into your volleyball clothes?” Hinata asked, pointing out that Kageyama was still in the overly formal garb he’d come in. Kageyama looked around for a moment before turning back to Hinata,

                “Uh, is there like a restroom or something where I can change?” he asked

                “Oh, ahh, I don’t think so,” Hinata realised, “Um, we can probably go to my house if you want to change there, it’s not that far away,” he offered.

                “N-no, that’s fine,” Kageyama responded, “I’m just going be tossing the ball for you right, so it’s no big deal anyway,” he explained weakly. Hinata just shrugged off Kageyama’s awkwardness, eager to spike one of Kageyama’s tosses. They practiced for a short while, at one point drawing a small audience of a few elementary school children who were playing in the park until their parents called them back for lunch.

                “Oh, do you want to have lunch now to Kageyama?” Hinata asked, slightly out of breath from all the jumping he’d done but far from being too tired to continue, “I can finally prove to you that I can too cook, and probably better than you can too!”

                “Pfft,” Kageyama snorted, “I remember you once telling everyone you set your kitchen on fire once, there’s no way you’re better at cooking than me,”

                “That was years ago though,” Hinata tried to defend himself, regretting ever having told that story to Nishinoya, “I didn’t set anything on fire this time!” Kageyama picked up his bag, with Hinata’s bentos inside, and they walked back over to the benches where they’d been earlier.

                Hinata sat down, grabbing the duffel bag off of Kageyama and pulling the two bentos out and placing them on the bench next to him. He took one for himself and offered the other one to Kageyama who stared down at the unassuming box in Hinata’s outstretched hand, only taking when Hinata started waving under his nose in impatience.

                Kageyama snatched the bento from his hand and sat down next to Hinata, who had already opened his and begun stuffing his face with food already. Kageyama opened his and looked down somewhat dubiously at the contents,

                “Why is the meat all singed around the edges?” he asked, “And what vegetable even is that?”

                “Tomatoes are a fruit, Bakageyama,” Hinata chided the setter in favour of actually acknowledging the questionable nature of the food.

                “It looks like a capsicum that was left to rot,” Kageyama said stonily,

                “Well don’t eat it then!” Hinata humphed, disappointed that Kageyama didn’t like the bento he made after he spent so long on them. Kageyama continued to sit still, not touching his lunch for a minute while Hinata continued to eat. _I didn’t think he really wouldn’t eat it_ , Hinata thought regretfully, _It’s not that bad is it? It tastes fine to me_.

                Kageyama stood up and moved to the bench opposite Hinata, eyes locked down on the bento in his lap as he slowly started eating it, not giving any explanation for the sudden move.

                “Why’d you move all the way over there?” Hinata asked in confusion,

                “Uhh, it’s too hot there, I wanted to sit in the shade,” Kageyama explained lamely, not looking up from his food. Hinata just stood up and walked over next to Kageyama, plopping down right next to him, causing him to jump, “What are you doing?!”

                “You said it was too hot over there, besides how are we supposed to talk if I’m all the way over there and you’re here?”

                “I-it’s not that far away,” Kageyama defended, shuffling down the bench a bit so he wasn’t sitting right next to Hinata.

                “Are you okay Kageyama?” Hinata asked, “Is this because I asked you to come hang out? You don’t have to if you don’t want to...” Hinata said sadly, worrying that maybe Kageyama only came all the way out here because he thought he had to.

                “Th-those people are watching us...” Kageyama stuttered quietly, “We were sitting too close together, what if they thought something?”

                “Kageyama,” Hinata said flatly after looking in the direction Kageyama and nodded his head while talking, “Those ‘people’ are all small children, I don’t think you really need to worry,”

                “B-but what if they tell their parents, or someone else comes along or something? They might guess and think were doing bad things or something...” Kageyama explained, nervously looking over at the group of children, who now appeared to be playing follow-the-leader, completely oblivious to the two high school students halfway across the park.

                “’Bad things’?” Hinata questioned, “We’re sitting in a park, eating lunch and talking, what’s wrong with that?”

                “But if they thought we were... together or something, they might get worried that we’re going to do something to the children or something,” Kageyama hissed, starting to get upset with Hinata’s persistence.

                “What?!” Hinata exclaimed, causing Kageyama to jump at the sudden loud noise, “Why would someone think you would do something bad to children?! That’s just stupid! Why, just because you’re here with me you’re suddenly some kind of horrible person?!” Hinata started yelling angrily, upset that Kageyama thought people might think those kinds of things, might think them about himself.

                Kageyama, terrified by Hinata’s anger and the possibility of someone overhearing him, suddenly bolted from the bench, bento scattering across the floor as Kageyama ran out of the park.

                “Kageyama! Wait!” Hinata called after him, pausing only to grab Kageyama’s duffel bag before dashing after the boy. He ran a few blocks before coming to a stop, hands on his knees as he gasped to get his breath back. He’d lost sight of Kageyama and had just run wildly after him, hoping to catch up.

                Walking up to the closest intersection, he looked up and down the street which was filled with small shops and cafes, happening to see Kageyama a little way ahead, standing still in the middle of the midday bustle. Trying to catch up to him without causing him to bolt again, Hinata waited until he was almost at him before calling his name again,

                “Kageyama! Wait a second!” he gasped after him, Kageyama turning to see Hinata, looking like a deer in headlights as Hinata ran into him, knocking him back a bit and startling him out of his shock. He moved to run again, this time Hinata grabbing hold of his wrist before he could go and ended up getting dragged along with him as he pulled them down an empty side-alley.

                Kageyama leant back against the cool wall of the alley, sliding down the wall until he hit the ground with a thud whimpering. Hinata knelt down next to him, still keeping an iron grip on Kageyama’s arm just in case.

                “Nononononono, she saw me, I know she saw me,” Kageyama cried, tears of panic starting to rise as he tried to bury his face in his hands, Hinata’s hold preventing him, “She saw me, and she’s gonna tell everyone, she can’t, please, she can’t,”

                “Kageyama,” Hinata tried to ask calmly but firmly, “What are you talking about, who saw you?”

                “S-sakano-san! She saw me, she’s gonna tell my mum, she saw me,” he cried as tears started to trickle down his face and his breathing became more uneven.

                “Kageyama, I still don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hinata said, trying to calm the distressed setter down, starting to become upset himself seeing Kageyama so distraught.

                “She’s gonna tell my mum she saw me, and then she’ll find out about you and about me and she’ll know. I don’t know what to do...” Kageyama tried to explain through sobs as his breathing became even more strained. Realising he was just stressing him out more, Hinata stopped questioning Kageyama, and let go off the setter’s wrist so he could wrap his arms around Kageyama’s chest, gently bringing him forward towards himself.

                Kageyama stiffened at first, but quickly his sobs overtook him and he melted into Hinata’s embrace. Hinata slowly shifted his position so he was sitting, rather than kneeling on the hard concrete, Kageyama leaning further forwards to almost lay in his lap. Hinata gently stroked his head and just spoke to him quietly, trying to get him to calm down and telling him that everything would be fine.

                After a while, Kageyama ‘s breathing was back to normal, and he wasn’t crying anymore, although his eyes were still slightly red around the edges.

                “I’m sorry,” Kageyama murmured into Hinata’s chest, where his face was pressed against the smaller boy, leaving a wet patch from his tears, “I ruined it, didn’t I? Sakano-san saw me, I know it...” Before he could start crying again, Hinata pulled Kageyama’s face away from himself,

                “Kageyama,” Hinata asked gently, “I still don’t know what’s going on, who’s Sakano-san?”

                “She’s one of my mother’s friends,” Kageyama explained, trying to look away but Hinata’s hands holding his face still, “S-she saw me here, she recognised me, I know it! She’ll tell my mum she saw me, and maybe she saw you too, either way, my mother will find out that I was here, with you, and then she’ll  know that I like you, and that I’m gross and bad and a horrible son and I don’t know what will happen!”

                “Doesn’t your mum already know you’re here though?” Hinata asked confused.

                “N-no,” Kageyama admitted guiltily, “She’s visiting my aunt today, and my father’s on a business trip, so I’m supposed to be at home... If she finds out I wasn’t she’ll want to know why, and she’ll find out!” He looked at Hinata desperately, fear in his eyes as he tried to imagine what horrific scenarios might play out if his mother were to discover his feelings.

                “Well, maybe she won’t tell your mum,” Hinata tried to reassure Kageyama, wanting to make it so he wasn’t so sad anymore, “And even if she does, is it so bad if she finds out, it just means you don’t have to lie to her,” Kageyama went pale,

                “No, no, she can’t find out, she’ll hate me, my father will hate me, and then other people will find out and everyone will hate me, no!”

                “Shh, Kageyama,” Hinata tried to get Kageyama’s panic back under control, “Okay then, maybe your mum won’t find out, I mean, it’s not like we were walking around with a big sign saying “We Like Each Other”, you can just tell her we’re friends,”

                “B-but then she’ll want to meet you, and she’ll know,”

                “How would she know Kageyama, I’m not gonna tell her,” Hinata asked, starting to become a little exasperated at Kageyama’s continued insistence.

                “Because it’s so obvious,” he replied, “You always make me act so stupid ‘cause I feel so weird inside every time you do _anything_! I’m sure someone’s already noticed, she probably knows already!” Kageyama bemoaned.

                “Kageyama,” Hinata started, blushing slightly at Kageyama’s unintentional  admission, “I didn’t even know until you practically confessed to me, trust me, no one’s going to just look at you and know,”

                “Really,” Kageyama asked desperately, wanting to believe Hinata that he was safe.

                “Really,” Hinata assured him grinning, “Now, do you think you’re ready to go, my butt fell asleep a while ago,”

 


	16. Where Exactly Have You Been?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello peoples,
> 
> Here is the next chapter, introducing a new character. You might have to wait a few days for the next one, but it shouldn't be too long a wait (hopefully :D ). Happy you guys seem to be enjoying it still as we start to learn more about Kageyama's side of things. I'm really excited for some of the scenes I have planned to happen as we go on, so I hope you guys will keep enjoying it too.
> 
> Thanks as always for reading
> 
> nightshade

                Hinata walked Kageyama to the bus stop, sitting down with the still quiet setter as they waited for the bus to come. Hinata let his arm fall to his side, the back of his hand resting against the back of Kageyama’s, the physical contact grounding Kageyama a little. As the bus pulled up, Kageyama self-consciously pulled his arm back into his lap so it wasn’t brushing against Hinata anymore. Kageyama hadn’t said much since they’d left the alley and Hinata was a little worried about him, so when the setter hopped on the bus Hinata followed him on.

                “Y-you don’t have to come with me,” Kageyama tried to say to Hinata as he boarded the bus, “I can go home alone. Besides, you’ll just have to come back again...”

                “Don’t worry about it Kageyama,” Hinata replied, trying to sound cheerful for Kageyama, “I, uh, have to get some things in town anyway – for my mum,” he explained.

                “Okay,” Kageyama accepted quietly, secretly relieved that Hinata was coming with him, unsure he’d have the presence of mind to get off at the right stop. Hinata handed the bus driver a note and smiled politely as he took his change and ticket. He then waited for Kageyama who carefully counted out the fare for the trip in small change, only having a few odd coins left over after finally counting out the right amount. He took his ticket absently and began walking to the back of the bus.

                “Are you okay Kageyama?” Hinata asked the setter softly as they took a seat at the rear of the mostly empty bus, Kageyama just nodding silently as he looked out the window. Hinata placed his hand back at his side, resting on the seat against Kageyama’s. Kageyama quickly pulled his hand back, snapped out of his daze to look around the bus to make sure no one had seen.

                Reassured that the only other people on the bus were a mother focused on keeping her baby quiet, and two old ladies gossiping at the front of the bus, Kageyama looked at Hinata who was still pretending he hadn’t done anything. Turning his head to glare intently out the window, Kageyama’s hand slid back down to where Hinata’s was, hidden from sight, and grabbed it in his, holding it for a good ten minutes before his overheating cheeks couldn’t take it anymore and he retracted the slightly sweaty hand and placed it back in his lap.

                Carefully looking over at Hinata out of the side of his eye, Kageyama saw Hinata looking down at his own hand in his lap, smiling softly and cheeks thankfully brushed with pink, relieving some of Kageyama’s self-consciousness. They didn’t talk about anything until the bus was approaching Kageyama’s stop and Hinata tapped the boy’s shoulder to tell him that they had to get off.

                They began walking in the direction of Kageyama’s house, Hinata handing Kageyama’s duffel bag back to the boy, who slung it over his shoulder, keeping it between the two of them so they couldn’t walk too closely together. Hinata noticed that as they got closer to where Kageyama had said his house was, he began to get more and more jittery, taking a step or two away from Hinata whenever they passed someone, or saw someone in their front yard. When they got to the corner of Kageyama’s street, the setter was looking around cautiously, trying to see if any of the neighbours were about.

                “Uh, I should probably go... to do that thing, for my mum,” Hinata explained awkwardly, giving Kageyama an out so he didn’t have to walk down his own street with Hinata when he was clearly so uncomfortable.

                “Oh, uh, okay then,” Kageyama replied meekly, shifting between feet, “Um, see you tomorrow?”

                “Sure!” Hinata agreed enthusiastically before toning it down a little bit, “Uh, see you tomorrow,” Hinata turned to walk back in the direction of the bus stop as Kageyama continued down his street towards whichever one his house was. He’d only gotten a couple dozen metres when he realised that his bento boxes were still in Kageyama’s duffel bag after he’d stuffed them in there hastily during the incident earlier in the park. _My mum’ll probably be mad if I don’t bring them home, I’m lucky they didn’t crack or anything_ , Hinata thought, turning around to head back towards Kageyama’s street, _I hope they didn’t spill any left overs in Kageyama’s bag, he probably won’t realise until it starts to smell tomorrow!_

                Hinata had gotten to the corner where he’d parted with Kageyama and begun walking down the street, hoping he’d be able to catch Kageyama before he went inside, not knowing which house was his, _I suppose I could always text him to come outside_ , Hinata was thinking when he heard voices further down the street. As he approached the words became clearer,

                “Where exactly have you been?! I’m gone a few hours and I come back to find you missing!” Hinata heard a shrill voice cry out, “But no, you’ve just gone out, gallivanting around instead of being at home studying, where you belong!”

                “I-I finished all my homework, and y-you were supposed to be gone all day-“ Hinata heard Kageyama’s voice begin as he came closer to the source of the argument, a small house towards the end of the road, Kageyama standing stiff as a board in the middle of the front yard while a woman, Kageyama’s mother Hinata presumed, proceeded to continue yelling at him from the front door.

                “Oh, I was gone so you decided you could just do whatever you wanted? Is that it?!” the woman yelled at Kageyama, who just stood there, shaking as she continued her onslaught, “You’re such a disappointment, your father and I work to give you food, a home – an education, and instead of studying, trying not to _fail_ another class, your off doing God knows what!”

               “N-no, but, I-I-“ Kageyama tried to stammer, his mother seemingly deaf to Kageyama’s attempts to defend himself. Hinata hating to see Kageyama standing there, seemingly terrified like that after everything that had happened today. Without really thinking, Hinata ran the last few metres down the street to Kageyama’s house, coming into view of the two and calling Kageyama’s name,

                “Kageyama!” Hinata cried, “Good thing I caught up to you, I left my bento boxes in your volleyball bag . My mum’ll be mad if I don’t bring them home,” Hinata explained with a grin as he stood in front of Kageyama, who had gone white as a ghost as he stood staring at Hinata on his front lawn, his mother standing in the door, glaring at this newcomer.

                “Volleyball?! I should of known that’s where you would have gone – off to waste your time with that stupid game of yours! And who exactly are you?” Kageyama’s mother asked tersely, annoyed at this stranger interrupting her berating her son.

                “Oh, hello Kageyama-san,” Hinata greeted politely, trying to ignore the woman’s aggression, “My name’s Hinata, Hinata Shouyou. I’m one of Kageyama’s friends – from the volleyball team,”

                “Well, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t- Wait, did you say Hinata?” Kageyama’s mother asked after a moment, suddenly stopping mid-sentence, “As in Hinata Shuichi?” Hinata just looked at the woman, confused for a moment, while Kageyama continued to stare, seemingly petrified by the shock.

                “Uh, yeah, that’s my dad?” Hinata answered hesitantly, unsure how Kageyama’s mother might know who his father was.

                “O-oh, I see,” Kageyama’s mother stuttered, clearing her throat and smoothing back her hair before continuing in a softer tone than the one she’d been using up until now, “I, uh, I’m sorry for seeming so brash Hinata-san. I’ve just had a long day visiting my sister – she’s sick – it’s been a little much for me, I apologise,”

                “Um, that’s fine,” Hinata replied, unsettled by the dramatic shift in the woman’s manner,

                “So, you’re friends with Tobio?  I hope he’s not too bothersome,” she said, “You... play volleyball together?” she asked with uncertainty.

                “Uh, yes,” Hinata answered, looking at Kageyama briefly, not sure what to say, “He’s really good though, he tosses really fast – right to my hand!” he explained enthusiastically, trying to lighten the mood  a bit.

                “Well, I’m glad you enjoy spending time with him so much. Tobio, you never told me about Hinata-san,” she looked pointedly at Kageyama.

                “W-we’re just f-friends,” he managed to stammer, “I didn’t think you’d be so interested,”

                “Why Tobio,” she laughed softly, “I’m your mother, of course I’m interested in your friends – Hinata-san, would you like to come in, I just made some tea?” Noticing Kageyama shaking his head subtly while glaring at him, Hinata declined the offer,

                “Sorry Kageyama-san, it’s getting kind of late – I live on the other side of the mountain, so I really need to be getting home, sorry,”

                “Oh, don’t worry, I understand,” Kageyama-san reassured, “Some other time perhaps, I’m glad to know Tobio’s made such a nice friend,”

                “Good bye then,” Hinata said, turning to Kageyama who stood a moment before realising Hinata still needed his bento boxes back. Rummaging through his duffel bag, he managed to pull them out, handing them to Hinata stiffly. Hinata took the boxes with a smile, saying good bye to Kageyama before leaving.

                Sitting on the bus as he went back over the mountain, Hinata wondered about Kageyama’s mother. _She seemed really strict, yelling at Kageyama like that_ , Hinata thought, clutching the bento boxes to his chest as the bus went over a bump in the road, _But I wonder why she suddenly went all nice? And why did she know who my dad was, he’s not even in town most of the time so it’s not like they would ever even see each other?_

                Shrugging it off, Hinata got off at his stop, figuring he’d ask his father when he was home next. _Still, I wonder if that’s why Kageyama is so afraid of his mum finding out he’s gay_ , Hinata thought, _She seemed really scary when she was yelling earlier, maybe she really would get mad at him? That still seems like a weird idea though, I can’t imagine my mum yelling at me over something like that... right?_


	17. I Got You Your Milk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again,
> 
> Here is the latest chapter as Hinata goes back to school. This chapter may be a little fluffy, but I keep finding I can't help myself. Don't worry, there's drama too. I should definitely post another two chapters by the end of the weekend, so there's that to look forward to as well :)
> 
> Thank you guys for your support, as always. Your comments and kudos always inspire me to keep writing,
> 
> nightshade

                “Nice receive Hinata!” Daichi called from the sidelines, congratulating Hinata on the solid receive he’d finally pulled off after twenty straight minutes practising with Nishinoya, “Do you want me to show you some more receiving techniques?” the captain asked as he trotted over to the two shorter boys. Hinata was about to welcome the input before Nishinoya beat him to it,

               “Uh, no that’s fine Daichi-san, I think I’ve got it,” Nishinoya explained, before pointing to the other end of the court, “It looks like Tsukishima and Yamaguchi need some help though,”

                “Oh, of course,” Daichi blustered, “I’ll go help them then,”

                “What’s wrong with the captain?” Hinata asked Nishinoya as they watched the third year rush over to the two at the far end of the court, Tsukishima seeming peeved by the sudden unwanted interruption by their captain but unable to say anything about it.

                “Who knows, he’s been weird all morning,” Nishinoya speculated as he got in position to receive another spike from Asahi, “Maybe it’s got something to do with Suga-san not showing up?”

                “Oh!” Hinata exclaimed suddenly, Asahi’s spike narrowly missing his head as he blanked out momentarily, remembering something, “Nishinoya-san, didn’t you send me a text the other day, asking to meet me about something?”

                As Asahi hurried over to the other side of the net to check if Hinata was okay, terrified he’d almost decapitated the small decoy, Nishinoya whispered over to Hinata, face lit up with glee,

                “Later – Wait in the club room this afternoon,” he stood back as Asahi came up to apologise to Hinata, pretending he hadn’t said anything leaving Hinata with a bewildered expression and Asahi worried that he might have given Hinata a concussion despite not actually having hit him.

 

                *******

 

                Morning classes passed in somewhat of a blur, Hinata bluffing his way through maths, hoping that him doodling volleyballs in his book looked like he was working on the problems. Towards the end of the lesson he couldn’t help but notice one of his doodles starting looking less like a volleyball and more like Kageyama, so by the time the bell rang his page was filled with volleyballs and a small (poorly-done) sketch of Kageyama setting one of said volleyballs.

                He swept all his things into his bag before grabbing his lunch and rushing out of the class, running a bit later than usual, and made his way over to the back of the gym where he and Kageyama had taken to meeting. When Hinata got there he found Kageyama squatting against the wall, his lunch sitting to the side unopened. When he came closer he noticed the faint bags under his eyes suggesting he hadn’t had much sleep, if any, the night before.

                “Hey Kageyama,” Hinata chirped, the setter jolting to attention when he noticed Hinata had arrived, “Are you okay, you don’t look too good?”

                “How does my mother know your dad?” he blurted out, ignoring Hinata’s question, “I mean you live over the other side of the mountain, but both my parents travel around a lot so maybe they’ve met, but why? How? I can’t figure it out,” Kageyama rambled on, the thoughts that had been circling in his head for hours and hours pouring out uncontrollably.

                “I don’t know,” Hinata answered nonchalantly, “What does it matter?” he asked, sitting down next to Kageyama and opening his bento to squeal in delight, “I got octopus wieners, and apple rabbits!” He began picking through the food with his chopsticks, smiling at the contents.

                “What are you, five?” Kageyama scoffed, looking on as Hinata rifled through the bento to see if there was anything else of note within.

                “Hmmf, now you don’t get any,” Hinata pouted, before picking up one of the little apple rabbits in his fingers at shoving the whole thing in his mouth. Kageyama, put off by Hinata’s disregard for his concerns, gave the smaller boy the cold shoulder, turning away slightly to start his much more boring bento that he always had.

                It only took a few seconds before he felt something prodding his shoulder, he looked over to see Hinata poking him with his chopsticks,

                “Fine,” he conceded, “You can have one, if you really want one that bad,” he held out one of the neatly sliced apple rabbits to Kageyama, the apple juice getting on his fingers and making them sticky.

                “I told you I don’t want on-“ Kageyama started to retort before Hinata shoved the rabbit into his mouth, stopping him mid sentence,

                “Oh my god, just eat one Bakageyama,” Hinata groaned, “You’re the baby, just because it looks like a cute little bunny you won’t eat it,” he muttered to himself, going back to enjoy the rest of his lunch. Kageyama, still trying to get rid of the lingering sensation on his lips where Hinata’s sticky fingers had rubbed against them, reluctantly turned back towards Hinata, before cautiously edging his own bento forward,

                “You can have some of mine, I guess,” he mumbled, “Even though I didn’t want any of yours to begin with,” Ignoring Kageyama’s theatrics, Hinata didn’t hesitate to take a massive clump of rice in his chopsticks and shove it into his face, moaning in delight,

                “Itsh sho goodh!” he said, reaching for another helping before he even finished eating the first mouthful, “How can you cook so good?” Hinata asked between mouthfuls. Kageyama stood by watching as his lunch disappeared before his eyes, blushing slightly at the evident compliment, but stomach growling as he looked down at the empty box.

                “Uh, sorry?” Hinata apologised sheepishly, looking down at the empty box when he heard Kageyama’s stomach, “You can have the rest of mine,” he volunteered, holding out his box containing an octopus wiener and half an apple rabbit, “Uhh, I’ll buy you another milk!” he suggests, looking at his rather feeble offering, “Or your first milk, I guess? Usually you’d have gotten one by now,” Hinata noted.

                “Oh, uh...” Kageyama started mumbling embarrassingly, “The bus ticket the other day was kind of expensive... so I didn’t have much left over,”

                “Oh,” Hinata said, feeling even more guilty now, _I didn’t think it was that expensive?_ he thought, “Then I’ll definitely buy you one, it’s my fault you couldn’t get one,”

                “N-no, it’s not your faul-“ Kageyama tried to explain, but Hinata had already dashed off towards the vending machines, so Kageyama just surrendered himself to the free milk.

                Hinata stood at the vending machine, feeding it the coins and dancing on the spot impatiently while it dispensed the beverage, noticing someone come up behind him,

                “Hello Hinata,” Sugawara greeted, nodding towards the machine when it spat out the milk carton, Hinata scrambling to grab it, “I didn’t see you as much of a milk person. Hoping it’ll make you grow taller?” the vice captain joked lightheartedly.

                “Oh, no this is for Kageyama,” Hinata explained, “I uh, already tried milk. It didn’t really work,”

                “Kageyama?” Sugawara light mood darkened, “You’re buying him drinks now? He can’t make yo-“

               “Nononono, Sugawara-san, please,” Hinata tried to calm him down, “He’s not making me, I promise, I owed him for, uh, eating all of his lunch – I didn’t mean to, it was just really tasty!” Sugawara looked at Hinata’s genuine concern, and reluctantly decided to let Hinata have his way.

                “Anyway,” Sugawara started, wanting to change the topic to something more enjoyable, “How’s things going with your little crush?” Hinata started blushing immediately, hands clutching the milk carton, trying not to clench too hard lest it break.

                “Um, okay I guess,” he mumbled, Sugawara’s hungry eyes indicating he wanted more details than that, “Um, we had lunch together, yesterday – in a park,”

                “Oooh! How romantic!” Sugawara gushed, “Was it amazing? Did you have fun? Did anything _happen_?” Sugawara’s face lit up with a mix of curiosity, enthusiasm and a hint of envy as he waited for Hinata to carry on.

               “Um, it was okay I guess? Some, uh, stuff, happened towards the end, but I think everything's kind of okay for now. Oh, and I met their mum!” Hinata explained, brain clocking over trying to tell Sugawara what happened without giving anything away.

                “Ooh, already meeting the parents huh?” Sugawara started before he was interrupted from behind.

                “H-hey, what are you doing?!” Kageyama accused having come to see what was taking Hinata so long, “I thought you said you were going to buy me some milk, w-why are you talking to Sugawara-san?”

                “Screw you Kageyama!” Sugawara started, “You can’t tell Hinata what to do, he can talk to whoever he wants! And you certainly can’t force him to buy you stuff-!”

                “I told you he wasn’t forcing me!” Hinata tried to step forward to defend Kageyama.

                “W-what were you talking about?” Kageyama asked hesitantly, “D-don’t lie, I already h-heard some of it!”

                “None of your business,” Sugawara snubbed Kageyama, “If you want to continue this later – _ALONE_ – Hinata, then I’d be happy to. See you at practice this afternoon,” the vice-captain walked off, decidedly ignoring Kageyama.

                “I got you your milk,” Hinata offered quietly, holding out the somewhat dented milk carton, still clenched in his hands, “I’m sorry the box got a little bent,”

                “You were talking about yesterday, weren’t you!” Kageyama hissed, ignoring the milk Hinata had offered, “You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone! You were just making fun of me weren’t you, I shouldn’t have trusted you!” Kageyama began stalking back in the direction of the gym, Hinata quickly following,

                “Wait, Kageyama, it’s not like that I swear!” Hinata tried desperately to explain himself to a hurt looking Kageyama who was refusing to make eye contact with him, “I didn’t tell him it was you,” Kageyama stopped, having reached where they’d been sitting before, and turned to look at Hinata, eyes mixed with distrust and hope,

                “Y-you didn’t tell him? You promise?!” he asked desperately, “Why then, why does he know?”

                “I didn’t know who else to ask,” Hinata confessed, “No one had ever confessed to me before, and we couldn’t date or anything, but I still wanted to do something so... so you didn’t think I was rejecting your confession or something,” Hinata told Kageyama about how Sugawara had approached him and what they’d talked about, Hinata stressing that he’d never let on that Kageyama was the other person. “I mean, if he knew, he probably wouldn’t hate you so much would he?”

                “What? Why would that matter?” Kageyama asked confused.

                “Because he’s-“ Hinata stopped himself before he finished, _Crap, I almost told Kageyama that Sugawara-san was gay after I promised I’d keep it a secret. But it’s fine if Kageyama’s gay too, right? But if I tell him so easily he might not believe that I can keep his secret!_ “Arrgh!” Hinata exclaimed in frustration, “Why does this have to be so complicated?”

                “What are you talking about?” Kageyama asked, “Why would Sugawara-san care about... _that_? He kicked me off the volleyball team, he hates me,”

                “Just, just trust me,” Hinata explained very carefully, “If you decided to tell Sugawara-san about... _us_ , he’d probably stop hating you so much, he’d probably even let you back on the team!”

                “That doesn’t make any sense, you just want me to tell him!” Kageyama accused, terrified of the idea of someone else finding out.

                “No! You don’t have to tell anyone if you don’t want to. _I_ won’t tell anyone either. I’m just saying I think you can trust Sugawara-san, even if it doesn’t seem like it,” Hinata tried to calm the setter down. The rest of the break Hinata and Kageyama chatted idly about other things, trying to forget the tension Sugawara’s presence had caused. At one point Kageyama seemed to fall asleep for a few minutes, Hinata was unable to resist getting a close up look at his sleeping face and ended up smacking foreheads with him when the bell rang, jolting the setter awake.

 

                *******

 

                After classes had finished for the day, Hinata wandered over to the gym, spotting Sugawara. Daichi and Asahi walking over too, Asahi looking very uncomfortable standing between the two of them and Sugawara waving pleasantly in his direction. After getting changed in the club room, Hinata was about to head over to the gym to start practice when Nishinoya came in to change himself, eagerly reminding Hinata that they’d agreed to meet after practice.

               Hinata briefly entertained himself with thoughts of what his senpai might want as he made his way over to the gym, _Perhaps he’ll finally teach me how to do a Rolling Thunder!_ he thought enthusiastically. On second thought however, he remembered the details surrounding the last few times that he had met with Nishinoya (and Tanaka) in the club room after practice, and suddenly he started feeling a lot more apprehensive about what was to come. Especially when Tanaka winked at him half way through warm up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. My favourite phrase from this chapter is "Sugawara's hungry eyes". It just made me laugh :P


	18. We're Your Cool Senpai

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, it's me again :)
> 
> Here's the latest chapter involving the latest of Tanaka and Nishinoya's hi-jinks. Next time we get further into the KageHina drama. I would like to know though if any of you have any suggestions or thoughts, either about the plot, characters or just the writing style in general, if there's anything you think I could improve or change. If any of you have ever written something like this, you might know how I feel in that I have no idea whether or not this is any good, or if it's just random nonsense, so any feedback is helpful for keeping me on track.
> 
> Thank you guys though, the fact that anyone has even bothered to read this far is crazy to me, so thank you so much,
> 
> nightshade

                “Yo, Hinata!” Tanaka whispered loudly from his hiding place in the storage room, “Come over here a minute,” Hinata near jumped out of his skin when he heard his name suddenly hissed at him from the shadowy storage room as he was walking to leave the gym with the others.

                “What is it Tanaka-san?” Hinata asked, Tanaka yanking him into the storage room, carts of volleyballs and piles of gym mats barely visible in the dimly lit room.

                “Not so loud, we don’t want Ennoshita finding out,” he explained to the confused boy, “We’re lucky Suga-san left early today, so he’s the only one we have to worry about,”

                “Um, is this about what Nishinoya-san wanted? This seems kind of, I don’t know, shady,” Hinata asked warily, backing away slowly from his senpai towards the half open door when light flooded into the room, half blinding the two for a moment before they saw Nishinoya’s petite silhouette standing in the door.

                “Oh good, you found him Ryuu!” the libero crowed loudly from the door, only to be reprimanded by Tanaka’s insistent shushing, “Relax, everyone’s already gone,”

                “Still pays to be careful, I’m more guilty than you here,” Tanaka cautioned.

                “Whatever, it’s in the club room right?” Nishinoya asked Tanaka, ignoring Hinata’s apprehension, “Everyone should be leaving about now, so let’s go. I don’t wanna be here too late,” The two second years led Hinata out of the gym, towards the club room. They passed Daichi coming down the stairs, but he seemed quite distracted, absently waving to them as they passed each other, oblivious to the clearly suspicious trio. When the got to the room, everyone had indeed already left, Nishinoya bustling Hinata into the room while Tanaka quickly closed the door behind them, making sure no one was nosing around outside.

                “Now Hinata,” Nishinoya began dramatically, Hinata standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, unsure of what was happening, and Tanaka hanging around by the door, trying to listen for anyone who might be coming around, “We realise that we may have failed you as your senpai in the past,”

                “Eh? No, no, don’t worry about it, really!” Hinata assured Nishinoya, the suspense starting to get to him, but Nishinoya just brushed off Hinata’s words.

                “No, we failed you in the past, _but_ , we are nothing if not your senpais – your _cool_ senpais – and so today we are going to rectify that,” he stood there confidently for a moment, but when nothing happened he called over to Tanaka, “Oi, Ryuu! The stuff!”

                “Oh, right!” Tanaka said, scrambling over to his gym bag from his position by the door and began rumagging through it, pulling out a plastic bag full of things. Hinata couldn’t quite make out what the contents were, but he thought he could maybe guess what one of them was and he began to groan in embarrassment. “Don’t worry,” Tanaka reassured him, “It’s like Noya-san said, we’re your _cool_ senpai,”

                “That’s right, and it is our duty as cool senpai to teach you about the facts of life, now that you’re in a relationship,” Nishinoya explained proudly, “Even if, uh, those facts of life might not be what we expected. But don’t worry, Saeko-neesan always comes through!”

                “I can’t believe you actually asked her for this, she’s been starin’ at me funny all weekend,” Tanaka complained, pulling a magazine out of the plastic bag and proffering it towards Hinata.

                “Don’t worry, I told her it was for a friend. Besides, this is what being a senpai is about!” Nishinoya assured his brother-in-arms, pepping him up a bit.

                “No, it’s okay, I already told yo-“ Hinata tried to say, pushing the magazine back towards Tanaka.

                “Don’t worry,” Nishinoya said, “Like I explained, we know better this time – and don’t listen to that Ennoshita nonsense about ‘corrupting the kouhei’. You need to know this stuff now, and who else is going to teach you, if not us?” The libero pushed the magazine back at Hinata, forcing him to accept it. Watching his two senpai look at him with eager expressions, Hinata reluctantly took the magazine and opened it to a random page, trying to mentally prepare himself for the embarrassment of coming face to face with a bunch of naked women. Unfortunately, he was not prepared for what he saw.

                Hinata slammed the magazine closed after having only caught a glimpse of what was on the page, his cheeks already beginning to resemble plump tomatoes.

                “Wh-what was that?!” he squeaked, trying to process what he just saw.

                “We told you,” Nishinoya explained, “We got Saeko-neesan to get a magazine for, uh, people like you,”

                “That’s not all,” Tanaka started eagerly, having gotten over his earlier fears of being caught, and pulled the other items out of the bag, “We got her to get these for you too,” Tanaka piled a fistful of condoms and a small bottle of strawberry-flavoured lubricant on top of the magazine in Hinata’s still shaking hands.

                “That’s right,” Nishinoya said as Hinata stood there mortified, unsure of what exactly they were expecting him to do with these things, “Now that you’re in a relationship,” (Had he been more aware at the time Hinata might have detected a hint of bitterness in that statement) “You’ll need these kinds of things – I mean I know you kids just wanna do the do, but safety is important!” Nishinoya and Tanaka stood there nodding, content with their role of cool, but responsible, senpai, thinking to themselves that Sugawara and Daichi would probably be proud of their ‘responsible-ness’.

                “Whelp, I’ve gotta be going now, it’s getting late,” Tanaka said, grabbing his bag as he made to leave,

                “Ooh, me too, Dad’s making curry tonight!” Nishinoya remembered, rushing to join Tanaka as they walked out the door, debating how Kiyoko-san might like her curry. Hinata stood there, looking down out the bundle of adult merchandise in his hands, unsure of what to do with himself. He hurriedly shoved it into his gym bag and ran out the door, feeling like everyone was looking at him as he rode home on his bike. He shoved his gym bag under his bed, hoping that neither his sister or mother would somehow find it before he could figure out what to do with it all.

 

                *******

 

                Hinata did not have a particularly restful night. He was a little jittery at dinner, concerned that his mother somehow knew what was hidden under his bed, but after the first ten minutes passed and nothing happened, he started to relax a little. Going to sleep however was another matter. It was if he could somehow feel the things hidden beneath the bed he was lying on, and just knowing it was there caused him to remember what he’d seen in the pages therein (curiosity may have gotten the best of him at one point, quickly put to rest after a quick flick through some of the other pages and the fear that his face would never be a normal colour again).

                What really drove the final nail in the coffin was Tanaka and Nishinoya’s words, that now that he was in a relationship, he was supposed to eventually do those kinds – with Kageyama. Imagining doing _those_ kinds of things with anyone, let alone Kageyama, was not something he’d ever really thought about before, but he certainly was now, producing certain distracting thoughts and sensations that made sleep quite difficult.

 

                *******

 

                “Sugawara-senpai!” Hinata cried in relief as he ran towards the startled third year. The sun had barely risen, Hinata having gotten up and left the house as soon as possible, taking his gym bag and it’s contents with him, paranoid his mother or sister might find it. Sugawara, yawning from being up so early, almost had the wind knocked out of him as Hinata grabbed him from behind.

                “Sugawara-senpai!” Hinata yelled, voice muffled as his face pressed into Sugawara’s back, the older setter pulling himself from Hinata’s iron embrace around his waist with surprising strength, turning around to see what it was that had gotten Hinata all flustered. “Please, take this, I don’t want it!”

                “What is it?” Sugawara asked confused, taking the gym bag that Hinata was forcefully thrusting at him. He opened it up, only the faintest bloom of pink on his cheeks any indication of embarrassment or such at the contents of the bag. He closed it again before quietly hissing at Hinata, “What is all this? And why on earth did you bring it to school?!”

                “I didn’t know what else to do with it! I couldn’t leave it at home, what if my mum found it!” Hinata explained, praying that Sugawara would just take the bag and dispose of the contents so that Hinata wouldn’t have to worry about it any more. “Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san-“

                “Stop right there. I should have known those two were behind this,” Sugawara sighed in exasperation.

                “Don’t yell at them,” Hinata tried to defend them, regretting a little that he’d so quickly ratted out his senpai, “They were just trying to help... I think. They said that I, uh, that I’d need it, now that I’m in a relationship or something...”

                Sugawara’s face softened as he heard the nervousness in Hinata’s voice,

                “Don’t worry Hinata, you don’t have to do anything like that if you don’t want to. Besides, I thought you decided you were going to just start off being friends, so stuff like this is a while away anyway,” Hinata looked comforted by Sugawara’s words, thankful that he wouldn’t have to deal with... _that_ , anytime soon, “I do however think you should keep these,” Sugawara added, thrusting the bag back towards Hinata, sans the magazine, “Even if it’s a while off, if you do eventually start doing those kinds of things with your partner you should be prepared, so having this stuff just in case may be important,”

                “B-but,” Hinata started, his solution suddenly being taken back, “What if my mum finds it or something?” he asked worriedly.

                “Just hide it somewhere she won’t look, just that should be easy enough to hide – I’m sure you can think of somewhere Hinata, you’re smarter than you think,” Sugawara assured him. Uncertain how to counter his argument without implying he was stupid, Hinata reluctantly took the bag back, “Don’t worry about the magazine though, I’ll, uh, throw it away someone won’t find it, okay?” Sugawara said, slipping the magazine into his bag as he saw Daichi and Asahi start walking over to the gym, surprised to see the two there before them. Hinata, a little calmer about the whole affair, but still a little anxious about hiding that stuff in his room, didn’t pay much attention to his senpais as they opened the gym and began setting up, thankful that Sugawara had at least relieved him of the magazine, as well as some of his concerns about Kageyama, if nothing else.


	19. Bakageyama!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, it's me again,
> 
> A bit of everything here, some angst, some KageHina, some cool senpai, did I already say angst?  
> But seriously, thank you guys for the support on this fic. I'm going to be really busy over the next week or so, so I might only be able to post one more chapter before next weekend (plus I'd also like to update my new fic as well - shameless self promotion, check it out if you like rare pairs). But, the next couple of chapters that are coming out should be really plot progression-y, so yeah!
> 
> <3  
> nightshade

                Practice was... awkward. Tanaka and Nishinoya kept winking at Hinata the whole time, for some reason under the misconception that Sugawara couldn’t see them. That was until they winked at Hinata and noticed Sugawara wink back at them. His smile was not a friendly smile. Tanaka and Nishinoya stopped winking after that.

                After practice, the two scurried off to class quickly, anxious to avoid whatever it was Sugawara had planned for them. Hinata was running late for his own class, having gotten tangled up in his shirt again while changing and having to wait for Asahi to come to his rescue. As he was walking very quickly through the halls (It had been made very clear to Hinata, on multiple occasions, that it was against the rules to run in the corridor) he happened to go past Kageyama’s class, managing to catch the setter’s attention as he went past with a small wave and a smile.

                Hinata chuckled to himself as Kageyama, who’d been resting his chin on his wrist, banged his head on the desk as he pulled his arm out from supporting him to wave back at Hinata, earning a number of laughs from his class mates as well. Hinata’s teacher however was not too impressed when her pupil showed up ten minutes late to class, laughing.

 

                *******

 

                Kageyama was sulking when Hinata found him behind the gym at lunch, his ego bruised much more than his jaw.

                “Everyone laughed at me,” he complained when Hinata asked him what his problem was, sitting down next to him to open up his bento, “Even you laughed at me,”

                “Because it was funny, Bakageyama,” Hinata laughed, heart twinging a little when he saw hutr flash through Kageyama’s eyes, “I wasn’t making fun of you or anything though...” Hinata reassured him, “I just thought... it was, you know... kinda cute or something, so I laughed,”

                Kageyama blushed profusely, turning away from Hinata,

                “I’m not cute,” he muttered in his defence, “Girls are cute, fluffy animals are cute,”

                “Does that mean you don’t think I’m cute?” Hinata asked Kageyama teasingly, blushing a little himself when he noticed Kageyama’s cheeks get even redder as he mumbled something incoherently. “What did you say?” Hinata asked, half teasing, half wanting to hear his answer.

                “I said, uh, my parents,” Kageyama struggled, “My parents were asking, um, well actually they wanted me to ask you over for dinner or something. I don’t know why,” he explained, glad to have avoided an answer, but not entirely sure he was any happier with his new topic of conversation, “You don’t have to though! In fact, it’s probably better you don’t... I don’t want them finding out that, uh...”

                “That you like me?” Hinata supplied as Kageyama’s voice dwindled away. Kageyama nodded sharply, blush reoccupying his face like it wanted to become a permanent feature (Hinata may not have been averse to such an idea), “You can say you like me you know,” Hinata teased him again, before adding a little more coyly, “I mean, I like you too...”. Now that both of them were blushing uncontrollably, they both seemed to decide to stuff their faces with food instead of talking for a bit.

                After Hinata’s face had cooled a bit, and his mouthfuls had returned to a more appropriate size, he rested his bento in his lap, letting his now free hand drop to his side. Taking a moment to internally debate over whether or not to test his luck, he eventually let his hand ‘fall’ next to Kageyama’s, his pinky finger falling over Kageyama’s. Meanwhile, he desperately tried to keep his face as neutral as he could, in the hopes that Kageyama wouldn’t notice and they could stay like that a bit. Ever since they’d caught the bus back to Kageyama’s house that afternoon, Hinata could remember the feeling of Kageyama holding onto his hand, all warm, and admittedly a little sweaty, but his probably was too, and either way it still felt really nice for some reason. Like way nicer than you should be able to feel just from touching hands. So he’d been curious to see if it would feel like that again and, maybe, if Kageyama maybe felt the same things.

                At first everything seemed to be going alright. Kageyama had tensed for a second at first, but then relaxed, eventually shuffling his hand over a little so they fully overlapped as Hinata began absently tracing over Kageyama’s knuckles with his fingers. But suddenly Kageyama’s hand retracted, and his shoulder got shoved away, causing him to tip to the side, spilling what was left of his bento in the dirt. A mild sting emanated from his knee where he’d grazed it slightly on a small rock as he struggled to collect himself and figure out what was going on.

                “Th-that’s so gross! Don’t touch me, you creep!” he heard Kageyama say, the words feeling like they were stabbing him. He tried to stand up from where he’d fallen, first looking to Kageyama’s face which was contorted in a weird mix of disgust and panic, but then over to a new sound a few metres away.

                “Hinata, are you alright?” Nishinoya asked worriedly as he and Tanaka ran over to help their kouhai up of the ground. Once they were satisfied that the boy wasn’t significantly injured, they turned to Kageyama, who was still sitting there, unsure of what to do and looking at Hinata for help. “What the hell is your problem Kageyama!” Nishinoya yelled, taking a step towards the setter who remained frozen still.

                “Yeah, what the hell dude, I know you’ve got some weird issues with Hinata or whatever, but what the hell?!” Tanaka cried, seemingly not as angry as Nishinoya, as he was just shocked.

                “W-wait,” Hinata started, scrambling forward, accidentally kicking his bento and scattering the contents even more than before, “I-it’s not Kageyama’s fault!” Hinata tried to defend him, standing in the way of the two second years.

                “Not his fault!” Nishinoya scoffed, “What the hell Hinata, this jerk just pushes you to the ground, chucks your lunch in the dirt, and its not his fault?!”

                “Come on Hinata,” Tanaka added, “Even you have to see that Kageyama’s in the wrong here,”

                “Uh, uh,” Hinata stuttered, desperately trying to come up with an excuse as the two second years moved to push past him to get to Kageyama. _H-he’s just scared right? Of people knowing... that’s why he pushed me, right?_ Hinata tried to tell himself, knowing that Kageyama didn’t hate him, but still remembering that awful moment he’d heard those words. The other times he’d heard Kageyama say those things to him, how it’d made him feel sick afterwards.

                “I pinched him!” he suddenly cried, trying to find some way to justify Kageyama’s actions, “Yeah, I pinched him – really hard! He just pushed me out of, you know, reflexes...” Hinata tried to smile convincingly, but Tanaka and Nishinoya weren’t buying it.

                “What’s going on Hinata?!” Nishinoya asked angrily, “Why do you keep defending this guy when he treats you like crap?! Is he threatening you or something? I told you, we can handle him!”

                “Please, no!” Hinata started begging as Nishinoya began to see red, aggravated beyond reason by the thought of Kageyama bullying his precious kouhai, “Please, it’s nothing, I told you it was my fault! It won’t happen again, I promise,”

                Tanaka, unlike Nishinoya, had begun to look leery as Hinata continued to beg, he tugged Nishinoya back by the shoulder,

                “What the hell Ryuu, you siding with that douchebag over there?!” Nishinoya accused as Tanak pulled him away,

                “Of course not,” Tanaka tried to reason with him, “But you fighting him isn’t gonna do anything other than get you suspended again! Look, you gotta do this properly. Let’s go tell the captain, I’m sure he can deal with this,” Nishinoya still looked hesitant to leave however, so Tanaka was forced to bring out his secret weapon, “Come on Noya-san, you can’t get suspended again, the team _needs_ you,”

                Nishinoya reluctantly let himself be led away by Tanaka, grumbling angrily. Hinata had they dreadful feeling deep in his gut that he’d be getting a visit from Sugawara soon enough, but for now he was just happy that he’d managed to stop Nishinoya from trying to beat up Kageyama. Speaking of which, he turned to look at the setter, who seemed somewhat shaken by the whole confrontation.

                “You don’t think they know, do you?” Kageyama asked in a hushed tone.

                “What?!” Hinata exploded, “Kageyama, you almost got beat up by two second years! Sugawara-san’s probably going to try and get you suspended or something, and all you care about is whether or not they realised the truth?!” Kageyama shrunk back from Hinata’s outburst, nodding meekly. Realising just how serious he was, the fire that had been blazing strongly a moment before had died down to a weak flicker.

                “Y-you, you really are scared of someone finding out, aren’t you?” he asked softly, Kageyama nodding violently as he buried his face in his knees, the stress starting to get to him, “So... so you really didn’t mean it, what you said about me touching you being... gross?” Hinata asked hesitantly. Kageyama looked up right away, looking at Hinata mournfully,

                “No!” he insisted, “No, I just... I saw them and, we were... holding hands. I didn’t know what else to do-“ as Hinata squatted next to the boy he noticed a small twinge in his eyes, his attention being drawn to the red mark on Hinata’s knee. “Y-you, you got hurt!... I hurt you!” Kageyama looked like he was about to be sick, “I-I’m so sorry, please, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” he started rambling, quickly struggling on to his feet, “Y-you can hit me, or kick me or something... if you want,” he offered to a bewildered Hinata.

                “What?!” Hinata squawked, “Why would I want to do that?” He stood up in front of the taller by who had opened his arms and legs, exposing himself for any kind of attack.

                “I-I hurt you, so, y-you can punch me or something – so it’s fair!” he explained, as if it made perfect sense.

                “You’re just going to let me hit you, wherever, for real?” Hinata asked disbelievingly. Kageyama’s hands began to stray between his legs, but he summoned a second wave of determination and pulled them back before nodding vehemently,

                “Anywhere,” he confirmed, clenching his eyes shut in dreadful anticipation. His eyes opened in shock when he felt a small prick between his eyes, seeing Hinata smiling incredulously after having flicked him between the eyes,

                “Bakageyama,” he laughed softly, before walking away to start cleaning up the mess from his bento before the bell rang and they’d have to go back to class. Kageyama just stood there a moment, unsure whether they were even or not. Just to be sure, he quickly rushed over to clean up most of the mess before Hinata could, just in time for the bell to ring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. I have now realised that it is kouhai, not kouhei. I don't know why I thought it was spelt with an 'e', that doesn't make any sense - in fact kouhei is an entirely different word in Japanese which has nothing to do with kouhai. So sorry if that was bothering anyone, it should be spelt correctly from here onwards.


	20. Did I Really Do That?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, just wow.
> 
> The start is a little iffy, but trust me, it gets juicy (at least I think so). Sorry it's been so long, life can be annoying sometimes (why, why must my life revolve around the life-cycle of flies), but hopefully this makes up for the wait. I should be able to update regularly for a while now. Thank you guys, as always, for all of the love and support you show for this fic, I hope it's worth it as we finally start to get to some of the more climactic scenes.
> 
> <3  
> nightshade

                “Muuuummmm!” Hinata drawled as he wandered into the kitchen as his mother made dinner for the three of them. She continued lazily stirring the pot she had been watching over, turning to look at he son who seemed momentarily distracted by the fragrant smell of cooking meat.

                “Well?” she asked, “Did you want something, or are you just going to stand there drooling all over my kitchen floor?” Hinata pouted, although he still wiped his chin just in case he had in fact been drooling.

                “Is it okay if I have dinner at a friend’s house?” he asked a little hesitantly, not quite sure what his mother’s answer might be.

                “Shou,” she started mockingly, “You couldn’t have asked me before I started?”

                “Not tonight!” he exclaimed, pouting again as his mother chuckled at her own joke, “Some other night – like in the future,”

                “Well it depends,” his mother began, turning back to the turn of the stove as she continued talking, “Is this night a school night? And who’s house is it, do I know them?”

               “I don’t know when, it’s just a hypocritical!” Hinata exclaimed again, wishing the conversation was just over already. _Why am I even being so awkward?!_ he thought to himself, _I used to go over to Kouji’s place all the time_.

                “I think you mean hypothetical, dear,” his mother helpfully interjected, making Hinata feel even more awkward, “Are they nearby? Or do they live over the mountain, closer to the school?”

                “Th-they live near the school,” Hinata conceded, worrying that that might maybe be enough for his mother to tell him no, “A-ah! But they know dad though!” he piped up, remembering his stilted conversation with Kageyama’s mother.

                “Really, who are his parents?” she asked, before turning to ask with a raised eyebrow, “They are a _he_ , right?”

                “Yesss, mum,” Hinata groaned, trying not to think about the implications of the question too much, “His name’s Kageyama, he’s on the volleyball team with me,”

                “Kageyama...” Hinata’s mother muttered under her breath ominously, mulling the name over thoughtfully as she stirred the cooling pot, “Nope, don’t know it,” she suddenly announced, “Now go get Natsu, dinner’s ready,”

                “But, can I go?” Hinata whined, not wanting to have this conversation again.

                “Fine, you can go,” his mother conceded with a sigh, “But text me when you plan on doing it – and be home by eight!” she called after her son as he eagerly went off to fetch his little sister, not willing to stick around longer and risk a change of heart.

 

                *******

 

                “Oh, so my mum said I can come over for dinner whenever,” Hinata mentioned absently, pinching one of Kageyama’s cherry tomatoes from his bento and popping it in his mouth before he could have a chance to snatch it back.

                “What?!” Kageyama cried, before lowering his voice, “What? B-but I said it was a bad idea! My parent’s are the ones who wanted you to come, so they’ll be there too! I really don’t-“

                “It’s okay Kageyama,” Hinata stopped him in a cheery voice, which Kageyama couldn’t help but hear as fake, “If you don’t want me to come over that’s fine, I don’t have to or anything,” Hinata began eating his bento again, the sound of yelling being heard of in the distance as some group of first years started bickering over some inane topic.

                “I-I, I want you to come over,” Kageyama muttered quietly enough that Hinata only just heard him, “I’m just worried...”

                Hinata put down his chopsticks, unsure of how to respond. He was happy that Kageyama really did want him to come over, but he clearly didn’t want his parents involved. _His mum did seem really strict, maybe both his parents are like that?_ he wondered, _Maybe he’s worried they’ll scare me off or something? Bakageyama, you’re the scary one!_

                “Well, why don’t I just come over when your parents aren’t there?” Hinata asked, Kageyama looking at him with uncertainty, “You told me they both worked, can’t I come over just for like, the afternoon or something? I could just leave before they get home!” Hinata seemed quite pleased with his idea, and was unsure why Kageyama still had a sour look on his face. “What’s wrong with that plan?”

                “You have volleyball practice in the afternoons,” Kageyama replied matter-of-factly, Hinata still not quite comprehending what that had to do with anything, “My mother comes home earlier than my father, she’ll probably be home by the time you even finish practice,”

                Kageyama began glumly picking at his lunch. Hinata felt really bad, he wanted to spend more time with Kageyama, but he wasn’t on the team so he didn’t go to practice, his parents seemed to keep him on a rather tight leash too – all they had was their half an hour lunch breaks. Kageyama sighed, perhaps dwelling over the same things as Hinata. It was that thought, that Kageyama wanted to spend more time with him too, that steeled Hinata’s resolve.

                “How about this afternoon?” Hinata asked firmly, Kageyama giving him a weird look,

                “Were you even listening, I told you-“

                “I know. I’ll just skip practice today,” Hinata interrupted the setter, saying it so casually that it took Kageyama a moment to realise what he’d said.

                “Wh-what? But won’t you get in trouble? And, and... and volleyball!” Kageyama stammered in confusion.

                “Missing one afternoon won’t hurt,” Hinata said confidently, oddly feeling quite fine to skip practice when normally he’d be the first to beg everyone to stay an extra ten minutes so that they could keep playing. “And I mean, I’m sure we could play volleyball ourselves, you know, or not. Whatever,”

                Kageyama looked at Hinata dumbfounded at how easily he was willing to skip practice – just to go hang out with him, volleyball or not. After managing to get a weak ‘okay’ from the setter, Hinata suddenly ran off, leaving his bento behind, saying something about getting an alibi.

 

                *******

 

                Hinata slipped out of the gym doors, waving quickly at Tanaka and Nishinoya who were winking profusely at him again, although this time for a different reason. He approached Kageyama who was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the club rooms.

                “Wait right here,” Hinata told him, “I’m just gonna go get changed back out of my practice stuff and then I’ll be right back,” Kageyama nodded mutely, still a little unsure of how all this was happening,

                “Won’t someone come looking for you?” he asked nervously as Hinata began climbing up the stairs.

                “No, it’s fine, Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san are covering for me,” he explained, stepping down a few steps so he was eye-level with the setter, “They told Daichi-san I was sick,”

                “B-but how did you get them to lie to the captain?” Kageyama asked

                “Uhh,” Hinata started blushing, “I, uh, told them I was meeting with, uh, my boyfriend, so they seemed pretty eager to help. I mean, I guess I wasn’t really lying or anything so...” Kageyama was standing all stiff, face looking like a tomato about to burst.

                “B-b-boyfriend?” he stuttered, barely managing to get the word out of his mouth.

                “Haha, I guess that’s what I said,” Hinata laughed nervously, “But I don’t-, I mean, if you’re not-, um, I should really go grab my stuff!” he said before turning to dash upstairs, away from the suddenly butterfly-inducing topic of conversation.

                Hinata changed as quickly as he could, not wanting to keep ~~his boyfriend~~ Kageyama waiting. He also didn’t want to risk the captain coming to check on him, not sure he could keep up the ruse without Tanaka and Nishinoya there to cover for him with their dramatics (“I think maybe he has a tape worm!” “Or maybe a stomach ulcer!” “Oh no, what if it’s cancer?! Daichi-san he could have cancer!”). As he was struggling to pull his shoes on, he heard a voice coming from outside. Worried that maybe someone from the team had come to check on him, he slammed his foot into his shoe, ignoring his laces, grabbed his bag and rushed out the door, hoping to somehow avoid them.

                “... And what exactly are you doing here?! I told you, quit hanging around the gym, I won’t have you harassing Hinata!”

                Hinata peered down the stairs, unable to quite see what was happening, but able to hear Sugawara’s angry voice yelling at, who Hinata could only assume was Kageyama.

                “If I find out you’re behind Hinata feeling unwell-! If you’ve hurt him-! How dare you keep torturing that boy! He’s nothing but kind and sweet, and even still tries to defend you to everyone on the team, but you just keep treating him like human garbage. Don’t think I don’t know about what happened the other day!”

                Hinata crept down the stairs, Sugawara’s normally calm voice twisted in anger putting him on edge. As he rounded the corner he saw Sugawara yelling at Kageyama. The younger boy was backed up against the wall, eyes flickering around, unable to look Sugawara in the face, fists by his sides clenching and unclenching as the third year continued his verbal assault. Hinata can already tell that Kageyama’s starting to freak out, unable to take such direct abuse from someone, and Hinata’s still shocked that that someone is Sugawara, the most gentle person he knew.

                He suddenly dashed down the rest of the stairs, shoving himself between the two boys, forcing Sugawara to step back. He looked at the small decoy who looked like he was about to cry.

                “STOP! Just, just stop!” Hinata yelled, the force of his shouts making Sugawara take another step or two back.

                “Hinata, you’re not sick?” Sugawara asked in confusion at the apparently healthy boy in front of him, “Is this your doing?!” he snapped at Kageyama, yelling over Hinata’s head, “What, are you trying to force him off the team now in the hopes we’ll let you rejoin if Hinata’s not around?! How dare you try and take that away from Hinata, just because you’re to bigoted to-“

                “Stop!” Hinata yelled again, “Please stop Sugawara-san,” he pleaded again, this time much softer as a few tears starting to make his way down his cheeks, causing Sugawara to focus his attention on him rather than Kageyama. “I always thought you were such a nice person Sugawara-san – You are a nice person! Why are you doing this? Why can’t you just leave Kageyama alone?”

                “Hinata, how can you keep defending this- this monster? After all the things he’s done, I’m certain more than what I’m aware of, how can you excuse that? He’s not fit to-“

                “No, no! You don’t get to say that!” Hinata interrupted the older setter before launching into a monologue that left him speechless, “You don’t know Kageyama – none of you do! You don’t get to call him names, or be mean to him, or hate him just because you don’t understand something! He’s not mean, or weird, or gross, or bad! He’s really funny, and hard working, and he only ever tries to be nice and friendly but you all just hate him! It’s so unfair and I hate it! He’s probably the best person I’ve ever known and I like him more than anyone, so if you’re my friend please, please just stop! You don’t have to like him, you don’t even have to talk to him, but please, just stop this...”

                Hinata finally stopped, a little out of breath from his long speech, tears having drawn tracks down his face. He looked almost like he’d just played three full sets, like he was about to collapse from exhaustion. Sugawara on the other hand had just stood there, slowly going pale as Hinata’ words had kept coming, his previously confident posture now replaced with slumped shoulders and limp arms hanging by his sides.

                When Hinata looked up to see Sugawara he was a little shocked. Even after what he’d said, he’d never expected to look into his senpai’s eyes and see so much pain there. _Did I really do that?_ he wondered listlessly as the three of them stood there in a deathly silence. Sugawara was the first to break it.

                “Hina-, um Hinata,” Sugawara said in a weak voice, needing to clear his throat before continuing, “Can we maybe talk later?” Before Hinata could respond, Sugawara added, “I, I just want to talk. I think I know why-... I’m sorry, uh, later, okay?”

                Sugawara walked off, back towards the gym, leaving the two behind. With the vice-captain gone, Hinata finally turned around to look at Kageyama, unsure how he’d held up during the confrontation, having been so focused on Sugawara. He still looked agitated, maybe even worse. It looked like he was about to cry too.

                “Kageyama, don’t listen to Sugawara-san, he just-“

                “D-did you really mean all that?” Kageyama asked in a soft voice, sniffling a little, wide eyes locked on to Hinata.

                “Uh, yes, I guess,” Hinata replied tentatively, not even sure what it was he had said, but trying to go back over it in his head to figure out what it was that he’d said that had gotten Kageyama’s attention.

                “Y-you really like me?” Kageyama stuttered in apparent disbelief, “You, you don’t think I’m g-gross?” The taller boy started sobbing softly as Hinata brought his hand up to the other’s face, wiping away some of the tears with his thumb.

                “Of course, Bakageyama,” he said softly, surprised that that was what Kageyama was worried about, “I already told you-“

                “B-but I’m gross, and w-weird, and no one ever likes me,” he started sobbing more violently to Hinata’s concern, “But I like you, _really_ like you so much! Why, why do you like me?”

                “Kageyama,” Hinata comforted him, wrapping his arm around the taller boy’s neck to pull him down into his embrace, “I told you, I don’t think you’re gross, or weird, or whatever it is you think is wrong with you just because you like me. And if you are, then I am too, ‘cause I like you back, _really really_ like you,” he said with a weak smile, “And I’d rather be gross or wrong and like you, than not like you at all,”

                Hinata led Kageyama over to the stairs, where the sat together, Hinata a step higher, so that Kageyama could keep crying into Hinata’s shoulder. The smaller boy kept his arms loosely around the setter, who clung to his shirt desperately, as if he was trying to crush himself into the other boy. They stayed there for a little while, Hinata occasionally whispering hushed assurances to Kageyama whenever his sobbing started to increase in pitch. Thankfully no one from the team, or any one else who might’ve still been at school, happened to pass by, although as soon as Kageyama’s sobs had started to turn into just a few sporadic hiccups, Hinata suggested that perhaps they start heading off before someone did.


	21. I Guess I'm Staying For Dinner Then

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> This is mostly fluff, it just is. I thought I'd give you (and myself) a little something before diving straight from last chapter into what will probably be even worse next chapter. You have been warned, not for the faint of heart. I mean this isn't for the faint of heart either, you may get a heart attack from the kawaii overload (or not, I may be so used to angst that anything is to kawaii for me :P )
> 
> Thanks for reading and the continued support,
> 
> nightshade

                The walk to Kageyama’s house was relatively quiet. They didn’t really speak as Hinata walked alongside the down-trodden setter, wheeling his bicycle next to him. Eventually they got to a street Hinata found familiar, realising that it was the street Kageyama’s house was on. Looking over at the boy, Hinata noticed that while he still looked a little mopey, a weak smile would occasionally flitter across his face, making him smile a little in turn. _Perhaps_ , Hinata thought to himself as they neared the other’s house, _Kageyama is just stupid. I just have to tell him stuff in a really obvious way so he gets it_.

                Kageyama fumbled with his keys, rummaging around in his bag for them as Hinata set his bicycle up against the front fence, eventually finding them and sticking them in the door by the time Hinata had come back. Awkwardly, Kageyama invited Hinata into his house, slipping his shoes off at the door and waiting for the other boy to follow him in.

                “Pardon the intrusion,” Hinata mumbled as he took of his shoes, leaving them in a messy pile next to Kageyama’s neatly placed shoes. Kageyama stood shifting between his feet as he waited for Hinata,

                “M-my mother’s not home yet,” he started, he voice still a little croaky, “She shouldn’t be back for maybe two hours?” Hinata stood there, smiling at Kageyama, waiting for him to do... something. “Uh, what do we do now?” he asked quietly, a little embarrassed that he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do when you invite someone over.

                “What do you want to do?” Hinata asked, deciding to walk past Kageyama, further into the house, and start shamelessly poking around a bit. The house seemed much tidier than his, a little smaller too, but not really cramped or anything.

                “Uh, um,” Kageyama hummed with uncertainty, anxious as he watched Hinata wander around his house, “Uh, you’re the guest, so, um, what do you want to do?”

                “Hm,” Hinata thought for a moment, “How about a movie?” he suggested. He figured that was pretty safe, they could just sit quietly and watch, and maybe it would help Kageyama calm down a little and not like he had to talk or something if he didn’t want to. Hinata looked around what appeared to be the living room for a moment, before turning back to Kageyama confused, “Where’s your TV?”

                Kageyama pointed at a large cabinet against one of the walls, Hinata tentatively opening the central doors to reveal a somewhat old-looking television.

                “Well, what do you want to watch then?” Hinata asked Kageyama, who was still awkwardly standing in doorway leading into the room. He looked a little troubled to Hinata’s confusion, before dashing off suddenly. He could hear him go upstairs so, curious, Hinata followed him. Stopping at the only open door, he saw Kageyama rifling around under a low bed. Looking around the room while Kageyama continued to do whatever it was he was doing, Hinata noticed the room was a lot cleaner than his, probably just because it was a lot sparser as well.

                A heavily worn volleyball sat in the corner of the room, along with a few other discarded pieces of volleyball gear. There was a wooden desk and chair pushed up against the wall opposite the bed, the wall space above it filled by cuttings from different magazines and newspapers about various matches or teams from around Japan, at both amateur and professional levels. The desk itself was covered in school books and a slew of stationery supplies, and was probably the messiest place in the whole room. A small, built in wardrobe was fit into the wall next to the door, but it was closed so Hinata couldn’t judge whether or not Kageyama had just shoved all his stuff in there in an attempt to make his room look cleaner (This was a tactic that Hinata himself was very familiar with).

                Kageyama, finally having finished with whatever he was doing, pulled himself out from under his bed to get startled when he noticed Hinata standing in his doorway.

                “Uh, I have this,” he said hopefully, proffering a copy of Spirited Away. A video. Still in its plastic packaging.

                “Where did you get this?” Hinata laughed, “It’s so old!”

                “Um, someone gave it to me in second grade,” he explained, “It was my birthday, so someone bought it for me. I don’t remember who it was...”

                “But why is it still in it’s packaging? Didn’t you ever watch it?” Hinata asked, trying not imagine a tiny Kageyama in one of those yellow elementary school bucket hats.

                “Uh, my mother said I couldn’t watch it and threw it out,” the setter said sadly, holding the video a little closer to himself as if Hinata might suddenly snatch it from him to try and do the same, “She said that only perverts watched that kind of stuff...”

                “Pffft, what?!” Hinata laughed, “Why would perverts watch Studio Ghibli? I mean, I guess they probably did when they were kids or something, everyone does-“ Hinata noticed Kageyama standing there, starting to look quite embarrassed that he had apparently suggested a children’s movie. “That means we should definitely watch it now!” Hinata announced, “It would be irresponsible of me to not make sure you watch it,” he argued, dragging Kageyama back downstairs and taking the video off him. He struggled to open the plastic, eventually needing Kageyama to do it, and started the movie.

                Hinata turned the light off and sat down next to Kageyama on the small couch facing the television. He just smiled at Kageyama as the opening scenes played, watching as Kageyama slowly became entranced with the various characters that flew across the screen. As the movie progressed, Hinata found himself getting a little drowsy, he shuffled closer to Kageyama, yawning a little a resting his head on the taller boy’s shoulder. Not really noticing the setter stiffen, Hinata kept watching the movie, trying to keep focused so he could follow the story, even though he’d already seen the movie a dozen times.

                As the movie started to play the final few scenes, Hinata felt something funny in his hair. He sat still for a moment, trying to figure out what it was without disturbing Kageyama, when he heard a sniffing noise.

                “Kageyama,” the boy chuckled, feeling him startle, “Did you just sniff my hair?”

                “Wha-?! No, I, uh,” Kageyama started spluttering as the credits began to roll, voice tinged with panic, “It’s not- I was just, uh,”

                “Here, move,” Hinata interrupted him, getting up on his knees on the couch, pushing Kageyama’s head down a little, “Let me try,”

                “What?!” Kageyama’s voice cracked, freaking out as Hinata started sniffing at his hair.

                “Mhmmm,” Hinata hummed thoughtfully, as if mulling over a fine wine as he continued to sniff at Kageyama’s scalp, “It smells like... Kageyama,” he decided, letting go of the setter’s head.

                “Why did you- Wait, what does that mean?” Kageyama asked worriedly.

                “I don’t know,” Hinata admitted, “It smells kind of like you after practice, but not as smelly... I guess,”

                “B-but, why did you smell my hair?” Kageyama asked in a horrified tone, “Isn’t that really weird? You don’t just smell other people’s hair!”

                “You did it!” Hinata countered, “Why wasn’t it weird when you did it?”

                “But it was!” Kageyama cried, “... It was weird, but I still did it. There’s just something... wrong with me or something. You were right there, and your hair was kind of ticklish and... and... I couldn’t help myself, okay,” he confessed. He’d pulled away from Hinata, standing up to put some space in between them, getting all self-conscious.

                “Come here then,” Hinata beckoned him back towards where he was still sitting on the couch. Kageyama, apprehensive after getting a head-sniffing after last being told to ‘come here’, was not so eager to oblige the boy’s request.

                “W-why? What are you going to do?” he asked.

                “Well, you did something weird right?” Hinata asked before continuing in a more meek voice, a slight blush colouring his cheeks, “S-so, I’ll just do something weird and then we’re fair, right? Then we’re both weird, so it’s okay,”

                Kageyama slowly approached Hinata, not ready when the boy suddenly stood up on his tiptoes and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek. He quickly sat back down again, not looking Kageyama in the eyes while the taller boy just touched his cheeks absently, the feeling of Hinata’s small lips briefly brushing his cheek having left a burning mark on his face that was quickly being matched by the blush forming in response.

                “I, uh, I wanted to do that all afternoon,” Hinata confessed meekly, still not looking Kageyama in the eyes but smiling slightly with a sense of self-satisfaction.

                “O-okay,” Kageyama barely managed to croak out, his voice apparently having abandoned him, sitting down next to Hinata. The television screen had gone to a muted static as the two sat there in a soft silence, both blushing intensely and not really sure where to go from there.

                “Ah, I’m sorry,” Hinata finally said, “I, uh, probably shouldn’t have done that should I?”

                “N-n-no,” Kageyama spluttered, not wanting Hinata to think he was upset in anyway by the kiss, “I-it was, uh, really nice,” he finished lamely. Hinata just hummed softly in agreement, small smile returning again as he replayed the moment in his head. They were startled out of their daydreaming when they heard from the front door.

                “Tobio, are you here?” a voice came from down the hall, Kageyama shooting out of the chair to turn the television off as the voice continued, “Whose bicycle is out the front? And whose shoes are these? Tobio?” After the sound of someone taking their shoes off finished, soft footfalls came down the hall, stopping at the open door, as Kageyama held the video behind his back, the television already off and the cabinet doors closed quickly and quietly.

                “Tobio, what are you doi- Oh, Hinata-san, were those your things?” Kageyama’s mother asked.

                “Oh, ah yes,” Hinata answered anxiously, a little on edge as he hoped his face had calmed down a little, “Uh, pardon the intrusion,” he repeated.

                “Oh, that’s fine Hinata-san,” she assured in a pleasant voice, “I just wish Tobio had told me you were coming in advance, I would have made better preparations for dinner,” she said somewhat pointedly at Kageyama.

                “That’s fine Kageyama-san, I don’t want to be a bother. I can just go home if-“

                “No, no, that’s fine Hinata-san, and please, call me Isamu-san,” she interrupted him, “I was just going to make a curry, I hope that’s okay? If not, I’m sure I could make something else,”

                “No, no, a curry is fine, uh, Isamu-san,” Hinata reassured her, _I guess I’m staying for dinner then_ , he thought to himself, figuring there was no way he was going to be able to convince the woman to let him go, “Uh, just let me call my mum and let her know I’ll be late,”

                “Okay, you can use our phone if you like,” she offered,

                “No, that’s fine, I’ve got my cellphone,” Hinata replied, excusing himself from the room to call his mother. As he left he could hear Kageyama’s mother speaking is quiet blunt words but he couldn’t make them out. As he listened to the dial tone, waiting for his mother to pick up, he couldn’t help but worry about Kageyama who’d been so against him being here for dinner. But how bad could it really be?


	22. Itadakimasu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey,
> 
> Okay so, warning: I did warn you guys last time it was about to get real (aka trigger warning: all the homophobia). I feel I should state, even though I really shouldn't have to, I obviously do not agree with anything Kageyama's parents say. You know, 'cause their horrible people. But for all you people who are all 'No, Kageyama, poor baby!', don't worry, he's gonna be sharing the pain with Suga for the next little bit so, yeah. Angst for everyone :D
> 
> In all seriousness though, I hope you guys enjoy,
> 
> nightshade

                Hinata sat awkwardly on Kageyama’s bed, while the setter sat in his desk chair, turned around to face Hinata, fidgeting with his hands and not really paying much attention to him. After he’d called his mother and told her he was going to be late, Kageyama had dragged him upstairs suddenly, half-throwing him into his room before closing the door behind him. Yet to explain himself, Hinata had just sat down on the bed after Kageyama had pulled out his own chair and sat, lost in his own thoughts.

                “So, uh, this is your bed?” Hinata asked lamely, patting the matress next to him, “Where you, uh, sleep and stuff?” Kageyama snapped out of his thoughts, startled by Hinata’s random question.

                “Uh, here,” he quickly offered, standing up in a rush, “Y-you can sit here if you don’t want to-“

                “What, no, it’s fine! Unless you don’t want me to?” Hinata hastily clarified.

                “No, no, that’s, uh, that’s fine...” Kageyama mumbled, sitting back down, a small blush spreading across his face. It was only really then that it kind of hit Hinata that he was in Kageyama’s room. On Kageyama’s bed. With Kageyama. A pink tinge started to colour his own cheeks as he imagined Kageyama sleeping, doing his homework, just lying around all day - or whatever it was he did when he wasn’t at school – in the same room he was currently sitting in.

                “So, uh... what do you want to do now?” Kageyama asked anxiously, “My dad probably won’t be home for another half an hour, so we’ll probably have dinner then...”

                “Hmm... What about those?” Hinata asked after a moment’s pause, pointing to the cut-outs stuck on the wall above Kageyama’s desk, “What are they?”

                “They’re volleyball stuff?” Kageyama answered in a confused voice, “Uh, see, this one’s from when the Little Giant was still at Karasuno. Oh! This one is about a big Tokyo match that...” Hinata watched, a little awed, as Kageyama went on to passionately go though all the different clippings he had from magazines, newspapers et cetera, half from listening to all the cool volleyball stuff, but half just from watching the happiness in Kageyama’s animated expressions as he argued about which matches we’re good and who won and why.

                It seemed like only a few minutes had passed when they heard Kageyama’s mother calling from downstairs. Kageyama, realising that he’d been rambling on for half an hour about a bunch of old volleyball matches, suddenly fell silent.

                “Uh, sorry, that was, uh, probably just really boring...” he apologised

                “No,” Hinata shook his head emphatically, “It was really interesting! I’d never even heard of some of those teams!” Kageyama blushed again, still embarrassed that he’d gone on so long, but apparently happy that he hadn’t bored his guest.

                “Uh, we should, um, probably go,” Kageyama said, starting to fidget again while glancing nervously at the bedroom door.

                “Don’t worry Kageyama,” Hinata tried to reassure the taller boy, pulling him up from the chair, “I don’t know what you’re so worried about, they’re just your parents? And I promised you, I’m not going to say anything about... you know, _that_ ,” Kageyama led Hinata downstairs to the dining room, his mother finishing up in the small adjoining kitchen. A rather unimpressive, but still somehow stern-looking man was already seated at the table, reading a newspaper.

                “Dear, put that away, I told you we have company,” Kageyama’s mother nagged the man as she entered the room carrying two plates of curry and rice, placing one in the man’s spot and the other at the spot next to him. As she returned to the kitchen to fetch the rest, the man, presumably Kageyama’s father, looked over the top of the newspaper, folding it up and placing it to the side when he saw the small orange-haired boy enter the dining room after his son.

                “Oh, you must be Hinata-san’s son, welcome,” he greeted gruffly as the two boys sat down on the opposite side of the table.

                “Ah, yes. Pleasure to meet you Kageyama-san,” Hinata greeted a little nervously, admittedly a little worried given all of Kageyama’s concerns, even if he thought they were mostly unnecessary. “So, uh, do you work with my father or something?” Hinata asked curiously, having still not gotten around to asking his father how the Kageyama’s knew him.

                “Uh, yes,” Kageyama-san answered awkwardly, “Ah, your father’s never mentioned me before?”

                “Uh, no, but he usually only comes home on weekends, and he doesn’t really talk about work that much!” Hinata explained hurriedly, worrying that he’d said something funny.

                “Oh, of course,” Kageyama-san seemed to be satisfied with the response, “Your father does work very hard, I suppose he wouldn’t want to talk about work stuff much in his little free time,” Kageyama’s mother re-entered the room, setting down two plates of curry where Kageyama and Hinata were sitting, before sitting herself next to her husband.

                “Itadakimasu,” Kageyama’s mother said before picking up her chopsticks and taking a mouthful of curry.

                “Itadakimasu,” the other three echoed before picking up their own chopsticks and beginning to eat themselves. At first the meal was relatively silent, Kageyama’s parents were engaged in some kind of small talk with each other, but Hinata wasn’t really paying attention, if anything his attention was on Kageyama sitting next to him, stiff as a board.

                A few minutes in a little girl’s scream was heard from outside as she giggled running down the street, her mother calling after her to slow down.

                “Isn’t that Fujino-san and her daughter?” Kageyama-san asked, irritated by the excessive noise.

                “I think so,” Isamu replied, before adding in a scandalised voice, “She’s probably coming back from Akiyama-san’s house,”

                “What? You mean that faggot down the street?” Kageyama-san asked horrifically, oblivious to the way Hinata flinched slightly at the slur. Kageyama, although still a stiff as he’d been the whole meal, appeared otherwise unaffected by the conversation. “She does know doesn’t she? I thought everyone knew since the Miyabe’s caught him bringing home some other pervert the other month?”

                “Well apparently she doesn’t care,” Isamu went on in a disgusted tone, “She’s still letting him watch her daughter after school whenever she has to work late,”

                “Surely she’d be better off home alone, God knows what goes on in that creep’s house? And she’d entrust her daughter to him?” Kageyama-san asked incredulously.

                “Well some people just don’t deserve to have children. I mean what she going to do if the man molests her or something? She’s the one who left her there!”

               “The sicko probably already has, hell they’re probably both in on it. You’d think someone would’ve called the police, or child protective services or something?”

                By this point Hinata was most definitely confused. If they’d just hated this Akiyama person because he was gay, maybe he could have followed the conversation, but now they thought he was doing bad things to little kids? Kageyama had said something like that too, back when they’d been in the park, he’d been worried people might’ve thought he’d do something wrong with one of the smaller children.

                “I don’t get it?” Hinata suddenly spoke, Kageyama’s eyes shooting to Hinata, pleading with him to somehow take it back. Although he hadn’t really meant to, he’d already said it now and Kageyama’s parents were looking at him expectantly, so trying to ignore Kageyama’s silent pleas, Hinata continued, “Why would this guy be, uh, inappropriate, with that little girl?”

                “I suppose you don’t live around here, so you wouldn’t have heard,” Isamu explained, “That Akiyama-san at the end of the road’s one of those _homosexual_ perverts,” her voice filled with distaste as she said the last few words, as if somehow just saying them was wrong.

                “You should probably be careful going home in the dark,” Kageyama-san cautioned, “He might try something. I mean you should probably be fine, you’re old enough that you could fight him off if he tried something, but best to be careful just in case,”

               “But I still don’t- uh,” Hinata sighed, trying to think of how to ask his question, “I thought gay people just, you know, liked guys instead of girls. So why would he try and do something bad to a little _girl_?”

                “Hmm, don’t listen to all that propaganda they like to pump out on the television and that,” Kageyama-san cautioned disapprovingly, “Those faggots are just a bunch of sickos, they don’t care who it is – guys, girls, little kids, I heard some even just use animals – they’ll use whatever they can for their perverted sex games,”

                “Sadao, don’t talk about such disgusting things at the table, we’re still eating,” Isamu told her husband.

                “Sorry, but it’s important you boys know these things,” Kageyama-san argued, “You’ve always got to be careful, or those faggots’ll take over before you know it,” With that, Kageyama-san apparently deemed Hinata’s question answered and went back to whatever he’d been talking about with his wife before. Hinata was still a little shocked, _Do they really think those things?_ he worried, before looking over at the still unmoved Kageyama next to him, _Does Kageyama think those things? Does he think I do too, and that’s why he’s always so scared of everything?!_

                The small boy wanted to jump up and hug Kageyama and tell him he liked him, and there was nothing wrong with him, and anyone was stupid if they ever thought those kinds of terrible things about him just because he liked another guy. But he forced himself to sit through the rest of the meal, pretending as if nothing had happened. When the meal was over, Hinata excused himself, saying it was a school night so he probably shouldn’t linger too long. Kageyama’s parents walked him to the door to bid him farewell.

                “Uh, I forgot something in Kageyama’s room, I’ll be back in a second,” Hinata blurted, slipping past Kageyama’s parents and past the confused Kageyama who had been standing on the stairs behind them, waiting for Hinata to leave. He followed Hinata up to his room, unsure as to what Hinata could have possibly left behind, considering he didn’t bring anything up to his room. When he walked in the door he felt a massive weight latch itself around his chest, looking down to see the shorter boy’s arms wrapped around him as if holding on for his life.

                “Hinat-“ Kageyama started, worried about his parents.

                “Please,” Hinata interrupted him, words muffled as he rubbed his face into Kageyama’s chest. “Don’t think those things about yourself,” he pleaded, to Kageyama’s confusion, “You’re nice, and I like you a lot, and you’d never do terrible things to _anyone_ , ever ever ever!”

                He looked up at the bewildered setter, “Please, don’t hate yourself for liking me,” Kageyama just nodded awkwardly, a red flush spreading across his cheeks and down his neck both from embarrassment and the extreme amount of contact there suddenly was between the two boys.

                “Good,” Hinata sniffed, “See you on Monday,” With that, Hinata ran off back downstairs and Kageyama could hear his parents saying goodbye to him as he got on his bike and started pedalling off down the road in the twilight, heading towards the small mountain on the edge of town.


	23. I'm Sorry Sugawara-san

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone,
> 
> Here is the latest chapter, where Suga and Hinata finally have that little talk *ominous sounds*. I hope you enjoy, Suga may be a bit more telling than he'd like :)  
> (Also, I know have a tumblr. It's probably going to be general Haikyuu stuff, along with any random stuff I might have to do with my fics: http://nightshade--19.tumblr.com/ )
> 
> Thanks for all the support (We're almost at 3k hits - that's crazy!)
> 
> nightshade

                Hinata’s weekend was not a particularly restful one. When he came home from Kageyama’s on Friday night, he’d expected to fall asleep right away. It’d already been quite dark and he’d just biked over the mountain, so even having skipped practice earlier he was still quite tired. But once he’d settled into bed he found himself unable to sleep, thoughts of Kageyama stuck in his head. He’d been so quiet throughout dinner, not even seeming a little shocked or anything, did Kageyama think that was normal? _No wonder he’s so scared of his parents finding out_ , Hinata thought as he tossed restlessly in bed, before giving up and staring at the roof, eyes wide open.

                Thinking about Kageyama listening to those kinds of things all the time, thinking that they were true, that maybe they were about him too, made Hinata’s chest hurt. He eventually fell asleep, still unsettled even in his dreams, only waking late into Saturday morning. It wasn’t until he was lying in bed sleepless again on Sunday night that he recalled Sugawara wanted to talk to him, making him even more restless knowing that the next day would bring some kind of new confrontation with Sugawara – although what it was about Hinata could only guess at.

 

                *******

 

                Crawling out of bed, with only a few hours sleep, Hinata ran a freezing cold shower in the hopes of waking himself up (He wasn’t allowed coffee after what had happened the first time his father had let him try some). Cycling to school, Hinata intentionally kept a slow pace in the hopes that he would arrive just in time for practice, hopefully avoiding any chance of Sugawara cornering him before school.

                Hinata was relieved when he arrived five minutes late to practice, despite Daichi’s nagging him about tardiness. That relief was short lived however when he noticed Sugawara giving him a troubling look every time he looked in his direction. Everyone had to get to class after practice, so Hinata had to sit through class dreading that afternoon. _I almost wish it had happened this morning, at least then it would be over with_ , Hinata thought to himself. He hated having to argue with the vice-captain like this, but he couldn’t just stand by and let him treat Kageyama that way, doubly so now that he’d learnt how his own parents seemed to act at home. He was sure Sugawara would drop the whole thing if only he knew, but Kageyama had made him swear not to tell anyone and he was worried if he did then Kageyama might not forgive him, and he couldn’t stand the thought of that. _I’d rather have Sugawara-san be mad at me than Kageyama_ , Hinata thought miserably, wishing neither of them had to be upset with him.

                Lunch came and Hinata found himself sitting with Kageyama as usual. He’d noticed the setter had slowly become less and less aware of their proximity over time, now not even noticing when their legs bumped against each other, or their elbows were touching. In some ways it was nice, but he felt a little embarrassed that he was still pretty aware of it himself, hoping he wasn’t blushing furiously every time Kageyama accidentally touched him. But then there was the especially not nice part of it – whenever someone happened to come by it was gone in a flash, Kageyama pulling back lest someone accuse them of something. He understood why, but it was a lot harder to pretend it wasn’t happening now that they were normally so physically close otherwise.

                So when Hinata felt Kageyama suddenly pull away from him while he was fiddling with his chopsticks, he already knew someone must be around when he looked up. Normally not many people came by this way, but he still hadn’t expected the person might have actually been there to see him.

                Sugawara stood there awkwardly, trying not to look at Kageyama but not really succeeding,

                “Hinata, I was wondering if we could have that talk now?” he asked tentatively, before adding, “ _Alone_ ,”

                “It’s okay,” Hinata replied, shifting uncomfortably, “You can say whatever you have to say,”

                Sugawara sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment before continuing,

                “Please Hinata, I promise I’m not mad, I just need to talk to you about a _private_ matter,” When Hinata seemed unmoved by the third years words, he relented, “Fine – but we are going to talk about this later, after practice this afternoon, okay?”

                Hinata hesitantly nodded, figuring he may as well bite the bullet and put an end to his worrying. After Sugawara left he tried to enjoy a peaceful lunch with Kageyama, _I may as well enjoy it while I can_ , he thought. As the bell rang and other students began rushing back to class, Hinata, in a moment of daring, held Kageyama back by the sleeve, waiting until he was sure no one else was around before pulling Kageyama down slightly so he could place a chaste peck on his cheeks before rushing of to class before he could start blushing uncontrollably and have to go to class like that.

 

                *******

 

                Afternoon classes had been alright, at least considering how little sleep he’d had, and the fact that he’d spent the first twenty minutes trying to hide his flushed face, waiting for it to settle down. Practice wasn’t much different, the lack of sleep less of a problem compared to the anticipation of what was going to happen afterwards rapidly approaching.

                As everyone started heading off for the club room to get changed and go home, Sugawara held back, taking the keys from Daichi and promising that he’d lock up. Then it was just the two of them left in the gym.

                “Just, get it over with,” Hinata said before Sugawara had the chance to say anything, “I’m tired and... I just want to go home and have this over with...”

                “Hinata,” Sugawara sighed, sitting down against the wall, patting the spot next to him for Hinata to sit as well, “I told you, I don’t want to yell, or argue. It’s not like it’s something I like to do,” Hinata hesitantly sat down next to the setter, waiting for him to continue, “How do I do this?” Sugawara asked himself with a sigh, “You... You haven’t been entirely honest about why you’ve been defending Kageyama, have you? Or I guess, maybe you have and I just didn’t realise,”

                “What are you talking about?” Hinata asked quietly, unsure where the older boy was going, but thankful that at least he wasn’t yelling... yet.

                “Remember when you told me there was someone you liked... a boy?” he asked, Hinata nodding and blushing a little with embarrassment, “It was Kageyama wasn’t it, he’s the boy you like,”

                “N-no!” Hinata squawked, “It’s not – You promised you wouldn’t try to guess!”

                “I know, sorry,” Sugawara laughed, somehow managing to make the sound sad, “I guess I couldn’t help myself...” They sat in silence for a few moments, Hinata waiting anxiously for Sugawara to continue.

                “I want to start by saying that, I get it. I mean, you don’t get to choose who you like. If you could, I’m betting there’d be a lot less gay people,” he joked sadly, “But, it applies to other people too Hinata,” Hinata looked at him, a little confused, but starting to wish that maybe Sugawara was yelling at him, rather than being so sad all of a sudden,

                “I know you like Kageyama,” Sugawara said, pausing when Hinata looked like he was about to argue, before stopping himself, figuring there was little point, “And to you, he’s probably perfect. He’s some amazingly cool setter, and everyone else just doesn’t get him like you do-“

                “Exactly, why can’t you jus-“ Hinata started to interupt before Sugawara cut him off.

                “But it’s not true Hinata. I know it must be hard to accept, but Kageyama’s never going to like you. Hell, he’s probably never even going to able to be you’re friend. I don’t know what kind of weird kick he’s getting out of keeping you around, but you have to see that someone like that won’t ever even see you as a person! No matter how hard you try, or how nice you are, you can’t make him like you, just like you can’t make yourself not like him!”

                Hinata tried to argue back, but didn’t when he realised the third year looked like he was about to cry, “You just need to accept there’s nothing you can do, okay! Just... move on, let it go, or it’s only going to get worse – for the both of you...”

                Sugawara seemed to have finished saying what he’d wanted to, and although he hated to see his caring senpai so clearly distressed, he wasn’t going to pretend to agree with him about it just to make him happy.

                “I-I’m sorry, Sugawara-san,” he started, “I d-don’t know what you’re t-talking about,” Sugawara looked up through bleary eyes at Hinata, who’d stood up as if to go, “Kageyama’s just... my friend. And even if I did like him... like _that_ – and I don’t! – well, sorry, but you _don’t_ understand Kageyama like I do,”

                “Hinata, you can’t just pretend-“ Sugawara began to argue before Hinata cut him off,

                “No.” the small boy said firmly, “No offence Sugawara-san, but you don’t know anything about Kageyama. Have you ever even had a proper conversation with him – one where it wasn’t just you yelling at him. You never even gave him a chance, you didn’t ask him for his side of the story – you just decided you didn’t like him anymore. That he wasn’t good enough for your kindness. Well I don’t want it – you can keep your kind words and caring senpai act! If you’d really cared you wouldn’t have just thrown someone away the first chance you had!”

                Hinata ran out of the gym, trying not to cry. He hated it, _hated_ that he had to say those kinds of things to Sugawara. _But they’re true!_ he thought, _If he’d just given him a chance! No one ever even asked, or wanted to know! They just cut him off, just like everyone else!_ Stuffing all of his things into his bag, and not even bothering to change, Hinata was thankful the club room was already empty so that he could leave without having to see anyone.

                Exhausted, he collapsed into bed when he got home, lack of sleep and emotional turbulence having sucked all the energy out of him. Just before he fell asleep, he pulled out his phone, placing it on his bedside table so he wouldn’t roll on it in his sleep. As he shut his eyes, he heard the phone buzzing against the wooden table. Irritated, he winced one eye open, grabbing the phone to see what it was, smiling to himself when he saw it was just Kageyama. ‘ _Good night <3_’ he texted back, happy with the little fuzzy feeling he got when Kageyama texted him ‘good night’ right before bed every day. With that, he was able to close his eyes in contentment, quickly falling asleep.


	24. I Mean, Like, Kiss-Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> Sorry this was a tad late, I fell asleep instead of writing it :)  
> Today you get some fluffy angst (that's totally a thing!), next time though. You aren't even ready for next time - big things will happen, mark my words.
> 
> With that over with, hope you enjoy,
> 
> nightshade

                The next morning’s practice was a sombre one. The normally energetic Hinata carried out drills with silent determination, lacking his typical contagious enthusiasm. Sugawara on the other hand was late, coming in halfway through practice looking like he was half dead. He looked over at Hinata occasionally, only to turn away when the first year refused to acknowledge him, ignoring Daichi when he came to ask why he was late and what was wrong.

                Everyone was a little on edge, tensions having been rising among most of the team for a while now. Thinking maybe everyone just needed a break, Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei decided that they’d take the next few days off from practice, in the hopes that they’d return in better spirits before they were scheduled to go away on the training camp coming up. The news was met mostly with ambivalence, the normally most fired up or charismatic members no longer keeping everyone else as pumped during practice as they normally would.

                Leaving the gym slowly, the team made their way to the cl0ub room to get changed and ready for school, the second years quietly chatting amongst themselves the only noise in the room.  The sudden silence when they left prompted Hinata to look around the room, noticing Sugawara was the only other person left. Already changed, he appeared to be waiting for Hinata.

                “Hinata,” Sugawara started, softly but firmly when Hinata made to barge past the third year to leave, “I know you probably just think I don’t know anything, or that I’m just trying to tear you two apart or something, but I’m not,” Hinata turned in the door, giving Sugawara a look indicating he wasn’t buying it. “I am right though, it won’t end well... I just want you to know that I’m here, and I won’t hate you for ignoring my warning or anything - so if something does happen, you can come to me,”

                Hinata, feelings from yesterday’s confrontation starting to roil beneath the surface, just turned and left, not wanting to get into another fight with the vice-captain before classes even began, just left, leaving Sugawara standing in the club room by himself.

 

                *******

 

                Hinata picked at his bento, his normal appetite nowhere to be found, as he sighed before leaning against Kageyama’s shoulder.

                “What’s wrong?” Kageyama asked, looking down at the smaller boy, face all smooshed against his arm, “Do you need to go to the bathroom?”

                “No!” Hinata replied indignantly, “... Sugawara-san’s really mad at me I think, and practice got cancelled ‘cos we’re all angry at each other and stuff...” Kageyama looked down at Hinata, a sad look on his face,

                “I-Is it my fault, that Sugawara-san’s mad at you?” he asked nervously, Hinata looking back up at him, leaning up to give him a small peck on the cheek, confident that no one was around,

                “Of course not,” he reassured the setter, “It’s his fault for being so stupid!” he argued, “He keeps saying all these horrible things like that you don’t like me back and you’re just tricking me! But you’re not!” he ranted, looking up to Kageyama, an anxious glimmer in his eye telling Kageyama that there was a question there as well.

                “I like you, I swear,” Kageyama whispered, looking around anxiously before leaning over to kiss Hinata’s forehead. Hinata blushed at that, he’d taken to kissing Kageyama every now and again (after making sure no one else was around) but this was the first time Kageyama had been the one to kiss him. He touched the spot on his forehead where Kageyama had kissed him with reverent fingers, grinning to himself.

                “Wh-what?” Kageyama spluttered, confused by the sudden shift in emotion.

                “You... you kissed me,” Hinata explained coyly, “You haven’t done that before,”

                “Oh,” Kageyama  realised softly, blushing as well, “So,” he started after a few moments of awkward silence, “Practice isn’t on today, right?” Hinata shook his head in the negative, “Then, uh, do you maybe want to come over again?”

                “Really?!” Hinata exclaimed in excitement, checking his volume before continuing, “Is it okay though? Are, um, are your parents going to be there?”

                “No,” Kageyama explained quietly, “My father’s working and my mother’s gone to meet with some friends...” he hesitated before continuing, “I’m sorry... about my parents, I know you probably hated last time, they said all those horrible things and-“

                “It’s okay Kageyama,” Hinata comforted the boy, hugging him from the side, “As long as you don’t believe any of that nonsense, it’s fine,”

                “I know, but, they believe it... _I_ used to believe it,” Kageyama spoke quietly, a tremor running through his voice, “What’ll happen if they find out about... me?”

                “Maybe it won’t come to that,” Hinata tried to relieve the setter’s concerns, “Maybe when they find out, they’ll realise they were wrong and be okay with it?” Kageyama shook his head, troubled, not sharing Hinata’s optimism. “Well, how about this then,” Hinata proposed, “You’ll probably move out when you graduate and go off to university right? All you have to do is wait until then, and then who cares if they find out? You’ll be gone and it won’t matter anymore,”

                Kageyama looked at Hinata dubiously,

                “That’s almost three years away though,” Kageyama whispered, “I don’t know if I can stand it that long,”

                “Well, I’ll be here,” Hinata reassured him, “As long as I’m here, you’re invincible, right?” he smiled at the setter, turning his words back at him and watching the taller boy smile sadly at his promise.

                “Let’s hurry up then,” Hinata proclaimed, proceeding to scoff down his lunch, “It’s almost time for class,”

 

                *******

 

                Hinata waved good bye to the guys from his class, walking down the corridor to wait outside Kageyama’s classroom so that they could go home together. _Mhmm_ , Hinata chuckled to himself, a warm fuzzy feeling inside a welcome change from the atmosphere that morning, _I’m walking home with Kageyama, just like in those manga Tanaka-san likes to read_. Smiling away in the corridor, Hinata almost didn’t notice when Sugawara walked past on his way out, a sad pleading look in his eyes as he watched Hinata waiting eagerly outside Kageyama’s classroom.  Hinata just gave him a pointed stare, Sugawara sighing and carrying on home.

                Kageyama came out of the classroom in a rush, running into Hinata standing in the hall outside.

                “What are you doing?” Kageyama asked in a hushed voice

                “I was just waiting for you,” Hinata answered innocently, unsure why Kageyama seemed so distressed about it.

                “But what if people realise?” Kageyama asked nervously

                “What, that I’m waiting for my friend after school? Relax Kageyama, it’s fine,” he teased him, “I could always kiss you in the halls?” he added, more quietly, as he leant up to Kageyama’s ear. The setter just went red and stormed off towards the exit, Hinata trailing behind laughing while apologising.

                They walked next to each other, Hinata having caught up and Kageyama accepting his apology (with Hinata promising to kiss him plenty enough when they got home). Occasionally their hands would brush against one another, and Hinata wanted nothing more than to grab Kageyama’s large slender hand in his, but restrained himself, telling himself he could do it all he wanted later. Eventually arriving at Kageyama’s house, the setter unlocked the door, letting Hinata in first before following him in and locking the door behind himself.

                Hinata sat, struggling with his laces that he’d tied far too tight _again_ , until Kageyama eventually got fed up and took them off for him. Hinata blushed the whole time while Kageyama took each of his feet in turn, placing them in his lap and picking apart the tight knots, brow furrowed as he concentrated on the task, muttering under his breath in complaint. When he was finally done, he led Hinata back up to his room, sitting on the bed and Hinata plopping down right next to him.

                The orange haired boy looked up adoringly at Kageyama, who was now blushing slightly himself, and grinned brightly.

                “Uh, do you want something to drink, or something?” Kageyama rambled, suddenly unsure of what to do with himself.

                “No, but uh,” Hinata declined, “I was wondering if we could maybe, uh, hold hands? I wanted to while we were walking here but...” Kageyama just inhaled and grabbed Hinata’s hand in his, a little too tightly but Hinata didn’t really mind, looking straight forward, unsure of how to proceed from there. “Um, how about you tell me more about all your volleyball stuff, like whose that?” Hinata asked pointing to one of Kageyama’s various clippings, already one or two new ones since last time.

                To Hinata’s relief, Kageyama seemed to relax a little more once he started talking about his new clippings, and what games had happened over the weekend. Hinata listened intently, just as enthusiastic about volleyball as the setter was, but at some point he realised he’d stopped listening and was just staring at Kageyama’s face. He almost didn’t realise when Kageyama stopped talking.

                “Uh, is there something on my face?” Kageyama asked self-consciously, wiping his face for imaginary dirt.

                “No, no,” Hinata looked down at his hand for a moment, still being held by Kageyama, albeit a little more loosely now, before looking back up, “Um, can I kiss you?”

                “Uh, yes, um, I mean, you already do-“

                “I mean like, kiss-kiss,” Hinata clarified, “Like, on the lips and stuff,”

                “O-okay,” Kageyama agreed shakily, pursing his lips slightly and closing his eyes, waiting for Hinata to kiss him. Hinata just looked at his face for a moment longer, until Kageyama opened his eyes to ask if he was still going to do it, when Hinata leant up and caught Kageyama’s lips with his. The kiss was gentle and sweet, but they stayed there for a moment, testing out the feel of it, before Hinata broke it off for a moment, going back from a different angle to test the difference.

                They sat there on Kageyama’s bed for a while kissing, mostly Hinata but after a while Kageyama began tentatively responding in kind. Soon Hinata began experimenting further, opening his mouth slightly to suck on Kageyama’s bottom lip a little, initially startling the other boy. Soon though he started to become a little slack-jawed as he let the smaller boy suck his lip more forcefully, giving Hinata the opportunity to slip his tongue into the setter’s mouth for just a second before he fell back on the bed, shocked by the sudden move.

                “Wh-what was that?” Kageyama asked, voice unsteady and lips slightly swollen.

                “Um, my tongue?” Hinata supplied awkwardly, “They always do it in movies and stuff, I figured I’d try it.”

                “They stick their tongues in people’s mouths?!” Kageyama squawked incredulously.

                “Yeah, you’ve never heard of that?” Hinata asked. Kageyama shook his head, blushing in embarrassment as he realised he probably looked stupid for not knowing that. “Do you, uh, want to try again? If you don’t like it we can stop,” Hinata asked.

                “O-okay,” Kageyama asked, starting to sit up again while Hinata leant further forward, swinging his legs up onto the bed to half-lie on Kageyama, meeting his lips halfway. They kissed as normal for a few seconds before Hinata tentatively slipped his tongue out again, licking at Kageyama’s lips until he hesitantly opened them. A little awkward and uncoordinated at first, Hinata struggled to control his tongue, Kageyama continuing to nearly bite it a few time, until they finally found a rhythm. Kageyama moaned a little as Hinata’s tongue licked at his mouth, at one point daring to explore Hinata’s mouth with his own before soon returning to how they were before. Hinata had moved up further, now straddling Kageyama on the bed, who was lying down completely, shuffling back so his head was on his pillow.

                Hinata began to sigh in contentment whenever Kageyama would moan or whine beneath him, unconsciously grinding down against Kageyama’s thigh. They’re breathing continued to get harder, forcing them to occasionally break apart to gasp for air before diving back in. It came crashing to a stop however when Kageyama suddenly groaned a lot louder, pushing Hinata off of him.

                “What’s wrong?” Hinata asked, thinking that it had been going quite well. He looked at Kageyama, face flushed and lip swollen from kissing, noticing the sudden tears that were starting to form in the corners of his eyes. He scuttled over to the setter, concerned, “What’s wrong?” he repeated.

                “I’m sorry,” Kageyama whimpered, shifting uncomfortably. Hinata looked down, noticing a wet patch forming on Kageyama’s pants, “I couldn’t help it, I’m so gross,” he started sobbing.

                “It’s okay,” Hinata laughed lightly, trying to cheer the boy up, “I mean, it’s kind of what’s supposed to happen I guess. Who knew I was so good at kissing?”

                “R-really?” Kageyama asked nervously, “It’s okay,”

                “Sure,” Hinata reassured him softly, hugging him, “It’s fine – and it’s not gross, okay?” Kageyama sniffled, still unsure, and feeling confused from the sudden whirlwind of emotions and sensations.

                “But we weren’t even-... We we’re just kissing... and I...” Kageyama sobbed, overwhelmed.

                “Shh,” Hinata comforted him, “Why don’t you go change your pants, then we can maybe do something else, alright? Maybe you can show me where you buy all these cool magazines – and we can get pork buns!”

                “Okay,” Kageyama whispered, calming down a little now that he knew Hinata didn’t think he was weird or gross, “But you’re paying,” he mentioned flatly as he walked out of the room, grabbing a fresh pair of pants as he went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. I'm on tumblr now, come talk to me, I'm lonely ;(  
> http://nightshade--19.tumblr.com/


	25. I'm So Scared

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh, long chapter today! Tears-filled one too :D  
> Hope you enjoy the beautiful angst (What will happen next chapter!)
> 
> Thanks for all the love and support for this fic,
> 
> nightshade

                They’d been sitting in the park for almost half an hour, their pork buns long gone (Hinata had ended up paying), and the sun was starting to set. Hinata still had to ride over the mountain to get home, and even if he didn’t have to get up early for practice tomorrow, his mother would still be mad if he wasn’t home by the time it got dark.

                “Uh, Kageyama, I should probably go now,” Hinata mentioned awkwardly, noting how Kageyama became troubled, “It’s getting late, you know? I’ll see you tomorrow though – and you’re buying the pork puns next time!”

                Laughing, in the hopes of getting a more cheerful goodbye from the setter, Hinata fell a little flat when Kageyama just waved, mumbling he’d see him tomorrow before heading off in the direction of his house. Getting on his bike, Hinata started the ride back home, an unsettling feeling in his stomach over Kageyama’s sullen mood.

                _Is he still upset over what happened?_ Hinata wondered as the wind whipped around him, paying far too little attention to his surroundings as he began his descent of the other side of the mountain. _I tried to tell him it was fine. I mean, it might have been a little embarrassing but, I mean, a few more minutes and it could have been me,_ he thought, blushing as he imagined what would have happened. _Maybe... maybe he didn’t like it? B-but he, you know, came and stuff, so doesn’t that mean he liked it?!_

                “Ughhh!” Hinata groaned in frustration, confused by all the thoughts and feelings spinning around his head, and the fact that he was trying to navigate a winding road in dim light was not helping. By the time he got home it was almost dark, only narrowly managing to avoid a talking to from his mother about staying out too late. Luckily his father had come home unexpectedly, so his mother was in a good mood.

                Dinner was bothersome, his father asking about school and volleyball, if he’d made many friends. Normally he’d ramble with enthusiasm for an hour whenever his father was home, talking about anything and everything that had happened since they’d last spoken. Today though, his head was a mess and he answered in short, vague phrases, clearly not feeling very talkative, or hungry.

                When he went up to bed after dinner, feigning tiredness from volleyball practice, he lay in bed fretting, wondering what he might’ve said, or done, or _not_ said or done, to make Kageyama upset. _I don’t know anything about this stuff!_ Hinata thought, bemoaning the fact that all his knowledge about romance and relationships came from his mum’s soap operas and reading Natsu books about princesses.

                “Hey?” a voice called softly, Hinata peeking out from under his covers to see who it was, “Are you okay?” His father’s silhouette stood in the doorway before walking into the room, closing the door behind him, blocking out the blinding light from the hall relative to the dim moonlight coming from the window.

                “’M fine,” Hinata muttered, words muffled through the sheets, rolling over so as not to face his father. The man sighed warmly as Hinata felt him sit on the edge of his bed.

                “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this quiet before,” he commented, “And I’ve _certainly_ never seen you leave food on your plate. Honestly, the fact that your not two metres tall and wide is astonishing!” Hinata grunted at the size joke, snuggling down further into his blankets as his father laughed lightly. “What’s wrong Shouyou?” he asked, voice more serious but still light enough to not carry any real pressure to answer the question if he didn’t want to.

                “I know volleyball is going well, you’ve been talking about going to Karasuno forever. It can’t be school, I mean, you’re grades aren’t exactly top of the class, but you’ve never really cared about that,” Hinata grunted again, making his father chuckle before continuing. “I doubt someone as charismatic as you has trouble making friends – you get that from me,” he said winking, “Mhmm, I know, is there a girl at school you like, huh? Too nervous to confess?”

                His father stopped his joking when he realised Hinata had started crying under the blankets, “Woah, Shou, what is it?” he asked, rubbing Hinata’s shoulder through the blankets comfortingly, “You can talk to me. Don’t tell your mum, but in high school I got all the girls, just tell me what’s wrong and I’m sure I can-“ His words were suddenly cut-off as Hinata swept out from under the blankets, hugging his father and crying softly into his chest.

                “I don’t know what to do,” Hinata sniffed, “I just don’t know...”

                “Oh come now,” his father tried to say reassuringly, “Anyone would be lucky to have someone like you. Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong and maybe I can give you some advice,”

                “Really?” Hinata asked apprehensively, pulling away from his father to look him in the face, rubbing his eyes dry with the edge of his sleeves. “You... You promise you won’t tell anyone – not even Mum?” he asked desperately.

                “Not even Mum,” his father swore, “Now tell me what’s going on, she must be quite the girl to get you so worked up?” Hinata sniffled again, not wanting to cry in front of his father anymore, finally deciding to trust him if only because he just couldn’t keep it all bottled up anymore.

                “H-his name’s Kageyama,” Hinata started shakily, not really sure what to expect.

                “He?” his father asked, baffled for a second that maybe he’d misunderstood the whole thing, but looking at his son’s worried face he realised that he wasn’t, “Oh,” he said, seemingly taking a moment to process that, Hinata watching his passive face, instantly regretting saying anything. “Well, go on then. Tell me about this Kageyama, is he in your class or something?” his father finally asked, looking at Hinata earnestly.

                “U-um,” Hinata started in a wobbly voice, still a little wary but hopeful after his father hadn’t started saying all kinds of horrible things, “H-he plays volleyball. He’s a first-year too, but he’s not in my class. Um, he’s a setter, but really really good. And, uh, I like him. A lot...” Hinata continued, unsure of what he was supposed to say.

                “And does Kageyama know? Do you think he maybe likes you back?” his father asked, curious about the mysterious boy who seemed to have been able to capture his son’s interest in such a short amount of time.

                “I-I think he like me. I mean he _does_ , but... sometimes he doesn’t, or he just acts like he doesn’t. But it’s still horrible and I don’t know sometimes, sometimes I think maybe it’s not all acting. What if he really doesn’t like me? But then why does he keep acting like he does? I don’t know! It’s just really confusing and I don’t get it and I wish it would just go away but I _really really_ like him!” Hinata began crying again halfway through his explanation, his father looking a little lost.

                “What do you mean sometimes he doe-, _acts_ _like_ he doesn’t like you?” he asked the sobbing boy.

                “He’s really scared of people finding out that he, you know, that he likes a boy like _that_ ,” Hinata explained, his father nodding a little as he began to understand, “I didn’t get why at first, he kept saying it was gross and wrong and stuff, and that everyone would hate him. I told him it was stupid but I don’t think he really believes me!”

                “Hmm,” Hinata’s father hummed thoughtfully, “Well, sometimes people aren’t ready to be open about that kind of thing. Unfortunately that’s just the world, it sucks but that’s the way it is. If he doesn’t want to tell anyone, you can’t really make him Shou,” he said apologetically, before continuing, “But at the same time, you don’t have to keep yourself a secret if you don’t want to. If you want to tell people and Kageyama doesn’t than maybe you should consider that you might not be right for each other,”

                “No!” Hinata exclaimed a little too loudly, hoping his mother wouldn’t come to check on the noise,”No, everyone already hates him, I’m the only one who likes him. I can’t just abandon him like everyone else,” Hinata explained, “It’s all his parents’ fault anyways, they’re the one who told him all that stuff!”

                “What do you mean?” his father asked, concerned.

                “They were saying all these horrible things, like how gay people were disgusting and how they were all bad people. Kageyama was afraid other people would think he did bad things to little kids! How could anyone think that!” Hinata began sobbing again, terrified that Kageyama had really thought that. “I-I just want him to be okay,” he whispered.

                “It’s alright Shou,” Hinata’s father promised, hugging the boy again, letting him cry all over his shirt, “I’m sure having you is already helping him,” Hinata shuddered with relief at the words, just happy that maybe he really was doing the right thing, that he wasn’t just being a burden or troublesome. “But, I still want you to be safe, I don’t want you being alone with that boy’s parents. You can still hang out at school, or somewhere else. I’m sure your mother would be fine with you having a friend over, but I don’t want you going near those kinds of people. You never know what they might do,”

                “Wh-what about Kageyama though,” Hinata asked, concerned that if his father thought they were that dangerous, maybe they might do something to Kageyama after all.

                “I know it must be hard, but there’s not really much we can do,” Hinata’s father sighed sadly, “He’s still underage so, unless something happens, he’ll have to stay with them for a while. But,” he cautioned, “If something does happen, call the police, or tell your mother, or myself, okay?”

                “Okay,” Hinata agreed shakily, not really having considered that Kageyama might actually be in danger. His father left after that, letting Hinata go to sleep. It took a while for Hinata to feel drowsy though as concern gnawed away at him after Kageyama still hadn’t sent his normal good night text.

 

                *******

 

                Hinata woke with a start, his phone buzzing harshly on his bedside table, wearily swatting at it until he finally managed to get a grip on it, bringing it to his face so his bleary eyes could make out the screen. Seeing a message from Kageyama, Hinata was suddenly awake, unlocking the phone as fast as he could.

                ‘ _Meet me at the gym._ ’

                “What?” Hinata mumbled to himself, wondering what Kageyama was talking about,

                ‘ _what r u talkign abut? its 4:30! >:|_’

                ‘ _Just come. Please._ ’ The reply buzzed back almost immediately. Starting to get a little worried, Hinata had a rushed shower and skipped breakfast, already on his bike and riding up the mountain by five o’clock.

                Getting to school on record time, Hinata dumped his bike at the racks near the front of the school, not even bothering to chain it up. He jogged lightly over to the gym, surprised to see the doors ajar. _We don’t have practice today, no one else should be here_ , Hinata thought, wondering if maybe someone else had come, scaring Kageyama off. Maybe he wasn’t here yet? Peering through the door, Hinata was surprised to see Kageyama huddled in the corner, looking at his phone.

                “Kageyama?” Hinata asked quietly, his voice echoing through the empty gym, coming off much louder than intended. The setter’s head shot up, tense until he realised it was just Hinata. Relaxing a little, Hinata found himself rushing over when he saw tears trickling down the boy’s face.

                “Kageyama, what wrong?” Hinata asked, reaching the boy and noticing he looked a wreck. Beyond the tear stained face, he had bags under his eyes from not sleeping and his skin looked all red and irritated. Kneeling next to him, he tried to understand what he was saying between shallow sobs.

                “Hinata, help, I’m so scared,” he pleaded, leaning into the kneeling boy, who just cradled his head in his arms, holding him against his chest and stroking his hair in a calming fashion. Terrible thoughts ran through Hinata’s head of what might've made Kageyama so scared.

                “They just know, I know it,” he whimpered, sobbing coming back more strongly.

                “What do you mean Kageyama?” Hinata asked gently, trying not to upset the boy any further, “You mean your parents? How would they know?”

                “It’s just obvious, I know it is!” Kageyama wailed, “I kept scrubbing my skin, but it was still there, I know it. I know they could tell when they looked at me!”

                “What are you talking about Kageyama?” Hinata asked, confused and concerned, “Is that why your skin’s so red? What happened?”

                “They could tell what we did, I know it,” Kageyama just kept sobbing hopelessly, “I could feel it all over, their eyes, like they could see everything,” Hinata just held Kageyama gently, trying to decipher what it was he was talking about. “They must think I’m gross, disgusting. I kept scrubbing but I could still feel it, everywhere you touched me, all over my face, I’m sure they could tell!”

                “What? Kageyama, that’s nonsense,” Hinata tried to explain to him, “Trust me, they don’t know what happened. You can’t just lo-“

                “B-but I could still feel it – everywhere you touched me was still all warm! When I woke up, the bed still smelled like you! I had to wash the sheets and shower again so they wouldn’t find out, but they still did-“

                “Kageyama.” Hinata said a little forcefully, startling Kageyama into stopping his sobbing and to look at Hinata properly, “They. Don’t. Know. Okay, trust me, no one can tell. What happened didn’t make you gross, or disgusting, or bad – you’re the most beautiful person I know, okay,”

                Hinata studied Kageyama’s face, trying to tell if he had understood, but the setter had just gone dead still, looking past Hinata at something else, eyes terrified. Hinata looked over his shoulder to see what was distracting Kageyama, mouth going dry when he saw Sugawara standing at the entrance to the gym, a shocked expression on his face.

                Kageyama suddenly pushed Hinata away fearfully, scuttling back across the gym floor, freaking out.

                “He saw us, he knows, he’s gonna tell everyone...” Kageyama kept whimpering, trying to paw away Hinata who’d rushed back over to him, trying to calm him down.

                “Everything’s fine Kageyama, I promise you,” Hinata tried to calm him down, “Listen to me, Sugawara-san isn’t going to do anything-“

                “But he hates me! He’ll tell everyone, and they’ll hate me too – they already hate me!” Kageyama cried, to overwhelmed to even pay attention to Sugawara anymore, just collapsing back against Hinata, sobbing desperately. Hinata looked over to the door to see the shocked Sugawara turn and rush off, unable to chase after him with the sobbing Kageyama leaning on him.

                Hinata spent the rest of the morning trying to calm Kageyama down, the boy eventually just wearing himself out from the emotions, crying and lack of sleep. All the while Hinata just whispered softly to him that he was there, and that everything was going to be okay. By the time school was about to begin, Kageyama seemed to be semi-functional again, although Hinata was still a little afraid he would break down again in the middle of class.

                “If you need to, just go to the toilet and text me, okay,” Hinata told him, “I’ll come right away. Otherwise, we’ll meet where we normally do at lunch, okay?” Kageyama nodded in understanding, voice still a little hoarse. He watched as Kageyama slowly meandered off tho class, hoping nothing would happen before lunch, and wondering where the hell Sugawara had run off to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. I plan on posting something else a little later today that should also tug ye olde heartstrings, so I hope you've stocked up on tissues, I was literally almost crying on the train today when I came up with it D:


	26. I Did A Terrible Thing!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> Bit of a shortish chapter, also kind of an important one though. I can't tell if it's too dramatic, or if it's just a dramatic scene. It would probably be longer/better, but I got Pokemon Go today and exercised more than I probably normally would in a whole week so, I'm really tired.  
> With this though, we are now entering the final arc of the plot ( :O we've come so far ). After this I do plan to write a prequel/sequel/whatever telling Suga's story (It will probably be a lot longer than this one, if you can believe it. I might even break it into separate segments)
> 
> Thank you for reading/kudosing/commenting/subscribing/being wonderful people,
> 
> nightshade

                Hinata breathed a sigh of relief when he turned the corner to see Kageyama sitting in his normal spot, slurping away on a carton of milk. Coming a bit closer, he could tell the boy was still quite fragile, but he’d managed to make it through the whole morning, apparently without incident, so Hinata was counting it as a plus. Approaching carefully, making sure Kageyama noticed him so that he wouldn’t just appear beside him suddenly, he sat down and opened his bento. For a few minutes they ate in silence, almost as if everything was as usual.

                “Kageyama?” Hinata started tentatively, breaking the silence with his calm opening, looking to the boy sat next to him in an attempt to gauge his state of mind, “Are you feeling okay?” The setter’s mask, already cracked, broke with Hinata’s question as he shook his head, eyes starting to water. “Kageyama,” Hinata whispered the boy’s name, clutching the setter’s head to his chest, “Shhh, it’ll be okay, I promise-“

                “B-but, Su-Sugawara-san...” he sniffed, “He knows... m-my parents know,”

                “Shh, your parents don’t know Kageyama, I told you, look at me,” Hinata said, holding Kageyama so as to force him to look into his eyes as he continued, “They don’t know. Sugawara-san won’t tell anyone. I’m here, and everything’s going to be okay, alright?”

                Kageyama, staring at Hinata’s honest eyes, cautiously nodded, wishing what he said was true but still not quite ready to believe it himself. After a few more minutes, Kageyama had calmed down again, still not entirely convinced, but he seemed better than before. Not like he was going to snap at any minute. It was for that reason Hinata groaned inwardly in frustration when he noticed Sugawara’s approach. _He’s finally starting to come down, and now Sugawara-san’s just going to make him upset all over again!_ he thought in frustration, _Why? Why can’t he just have a break, for just a moment?_

                “Ah, Kageyama,” Sugawara started weakly, announcing his presence to the younger setter. Kageyama stiffened, looking to Hinata for reassurance. Sugawara seemed to waver for a moment before falling to the ground, bowed over in front of a terrified Kageyama, “I beg your forgiveness!” Sugawara proclaimed.

                “I... I think I misunderstood, not for the first time, what was going on. Hinata was right, I acted hastily and without consideration, never asking you for your side. I-I was so convinced.. s-so ready to t-treat you like that,” Sugawara started sniffling, and Hinata was sure he saw drops fall into the dirt under Sugawara’s face, still bowed down as far as he could. “I... I was the problem. I was so desperate to stop you – who it assumed you were – that I became that person. Please, I ask you forgive me, even if I cannot forgive myself,”

                “S-Sugawara-san?” Hinata asked cautiously, reaching out to touch the third year’s shoulder, the touch breaking something as the setter began sobbing quietly into the dirt. “Kageyama?” he turned to look at the boy, finding him still cowering back from Sugawara, eyes wide in fear.

                “Y-you’re not lying are you?” Kageyama whispered apprehensively, as if expecting Sugawara to spring on him at any moment.

                “No!” Sugawara gasped desperately, “I know I did a terrible thing, _I know_! I don’t expect you to be able to forgive me, but please know at least, that I am deeply sorry,”

                “You... you won’t tell anyone? About me and... H-Hinata?” he asked, looking like he wanted to believe the sobbing boy but couldn’t bring himself to.

                “No, I promise,” Sugawara pleaded, “Anything I can do... I just wanted Hinata to be happy, the same now to you. I don’t want...” Sugawara laughed bitterly at the irony, “I didn’t want you to have to go through something like what I did to you,”

               “Kageyama,” Hinata looked at the uncertain boy, eyes full of sorrow, “I told you Sugawara-san wouldn’t tell anyone. I believe him, can’t you see he really is sorry?” Kageyama looked at Hinata, then to Sugawara, who had finally looked up to face him, eyes desperately searching his for something.

                “I-if Hinata believes you... I guess, it’s okay,” he said, still doubtful but putting his trust in Hinata’s judgement.

                “Thank you,” Sugawara accepted gratefully, bowing his head back down again before Hinata pulled him up off the ground, onto his knees. His constant bowing was starting to make him a little uncomfortable, so he imagined it was even worse for Kageyama. Plus he had no idea how to explain it if someone were to walk past.

                “Wait, does this mean Kageyama can play volleyball again?” Hinata asked Sugawara hopefully, Kageyama’s eyes glistening for a moment at the thought of being able to play on a proper court, with a proper team.

                “O-of course,” Sugawara promised, Hinata beaming. Kageyama looked blankly at the vice-captain for a moment before thanking him profusely, doubts gone, if only for a moment, for the person who would let him play volleyball again. “Nonsense,” Sugawara tried to say, If it wasn’t for me you might never have had to stop,”. The words didn’t seem to phase Kageyama in the slightest however, who was too happy at the prospect of playing once more.

 

                *******

 

                Once they were standing at the doors to the gym however, Kageyama was suddenly not so sure anymore. Would it really be that simple.

                “Suga,” Daichi greeted the vice-captain enthusiastically, paying full attention to him before noticing both Hinata and Kageyama standing behind him, “Uh, is everything okay? Did something happen with Kageyama again?”

                “You could say that,” Sugawara said vaguely, “I want Kageyama back on the team,”

                “What?” Daichi asked surprised, trying to pull Sugawara aside, whispering, “But you were the one you said-“

                “You asked me what it was I wanted Daichi,” Sugawara said icily, “I _want_ Kageyama back on the team,” With that Sugawara turned and motioned the boys in, “Come on Kageyama, I want to make sure you stretch properly. I’m sure you haven’t been doing it enough while you’ve been gone – wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself,”

                Daichi watched helplessly as Suga led the two first years into the gym and start warming up together, along with the rest of the team who were left a little confused. Accepting it as beyond his control, Daichi just informed the coach that Kageyama was rejoining them for practice. Some of the other team members were not as quick to relent however.

                “Hey Suga-san, what gives?” Nishinoya asked, interrupting the trio’s stretches, “What’s _he_ doing here?”

              “ _He_ is your team mate Nishinoya,” Sugawara replied with an intimidating smile, “I would ask you to remember that,”

                “Look, Suga-san,” Nishinoya said quietly, so that the two first years couldn’t hear, “If Kageyama’s threating you, or Hinata, you know Ryuu and I can take care off-“

                “If you lay a single finger on that boy, I will come down on you with a vengeance,” Sugawara whispered, giving Nishinoya chills as he wandered back over to Tanaka to mumble about what the hell was wrong with everyone.

               “See Kageyama,” Hinata nudged the boy while Sugawara was distracted eyeing off Nishinoya from across the court, “Isn’t it nice when he’s on your side?” Kageyama just looked at Sugawara with a mix of fear and awe, hurrying back to stretching when he turned back to the two first years to continue stretching.

                Practice was awkward, at best, with Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei a little worried that a short break hadn’t been able to solve the tensions of the team. They merely hoped that the camp would be a chance to bring them all together and sort their problems out. Whatever had been going on between Sugawara and Hinata appeared to be over, the two acting as if they’d never been anything but the closest of friends. Kageyama was a little more stand-offish, but Sugawara seemed more than willing to ignore that. In doing so however, it seemed Sugawara had drawn the ire of Nishinoya and Tanaka, not to mention whatever was going on between the third years who hadn’t been on good terms for weeks. Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei just didn’t know what to do about it all, but hope for the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. I planned to post the second half of my AsaNoya thing today, but I'll do it tomorrow instead, for anyone who's interested.
> 
> Plus, come talk to me on tumblr, I'm lonely (it can be about this fic, my other fics, future fics, your fics, random gibberish, idc)  
> http://nightshade--19.tumblr.com/


	27. Why Isn't He Here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> First of all, a heads up, posting may be slightly more sporadic this week as I'm participating in the Hinata Rare Pair Week, so sorry in advance if I miss a day :P  
> I'm not overly excited about this chapter (nor am I 100% about the next one either), but after that, wow, all the angst, all the feels, my body is not ready :D
> 
> Thank you for continuing to put up with me,
> 
> nightshade

                “Okay, gather round everyone!” Coach Ukai called the team over, all of them sitting in a semicircle around the coach, Takeda-sensei standing a little behind him, observing quietly. Kageyama and Hinata sat on one side, with Sugawara sitting between them and the rest of the team, Daichi sitting on the opposite side with Asahi.

                “Now, I know the past couple of weeks have been... tense,” Ukai started awkwardly, not sure what teenage dramas had been occupying the team, and honestly not really wanting to know, “But this coming weekend is going to be our chance to come together as a team and really hone your skills. This camp is going to be non-stop practice, so don’t be expecting some slumber party. Nor will Takeda-sensei or I be tolerating any of your teenage hijinks, so leave them at home,”

                “Everyone remember to pack everything,” Takeda-sensei chimed in, “And be here by eight a.m. or the bus will leave without you,”

                “I wish some people would just stay at home,” Nishinoya whispered to Tanaka, causing Sugawara who overheard him to shoot him a venomous glance,

                “What did you say Nishinoya?” the third year asked menacingly.

                “You heard what I said,” Nishinoya fobbed him off, Kageyama shrinking inwards, trying not to draw any attention to himself. Hinata had promised that everything would be okay, but half the team still hated him. However as long as he could play volleyball, and Hinata didn’t hate him, he would persevere.

                “Oi, what did I just say about quittin’ with whatevers gotten all your knickers in a bunch?!” Ukai yelled, sick of all the incessant back and forth between the team members, “Sawamura, can’t you do something?”

                “Yeah, _captain_ ,” Nishinoya prompted, “Can’t you do something about it? We shouldn’t have to put up with people like that, I thought that was why you booted him off the team?”

                “Well, uh,” Daichi fumbled, looking to Sugawara for help, the setter not giving him anything, “As long as Kageyama behaves, I don’t see-“

                “What?! After what he’s already done?” Nishinoya burst.

                “Yeah,” Tanaka agreed, finally deciding to join in the debate, “I mean what about Hinata, how can you ask him to spend a whole weekend with Kageyama? What is he does something?”

                “Uh, uh,” Daichi stuttered, “As long as Hinata doesn’t have a problem,”

                “How can he not?!” Nishinoya asked angrily, not understanding why the captain suddenly seemed to be on Kageyama’s side after so long.

                “Suga said-“

                “How do you know he’s not just doing it to Suga-san too?” Tanaka asked, “I mean, what’s to stop him?” Daichi looked suddenly at Sugawara, concern in his eyes.

                “Are you serious, Daichi?” Sugawara spat, before turning to the two second years, “I’m only going to tell you one more time, Kageyama’s on the team – deal with it.”

                “Maybe we will deal with it...” Nishinoya grumbled under his breath, backing down now that both the captains were going against him.

                “Oi!” Ukai finally yelled, silencing everyone, “Apparently, you’ve all decided to turn into a bunch of whiny brats! If you’re not willing to play, _as a team_ , then don’t bother showing up on Saturday!”

                With that Ukai stormed out of the gym, Takeda-sensei meekly jogging behind him, waiting for a chance to calm him down. With practice apparently over for the afternoon, the team began clearing up the gym, pulling down the net and collecting up all the discarded volleyballs. Sugawara helped Hinata and Kageyama pick up balls, putting them into one of the large carts, while keeping a careful eye on Tanaka and Nishinoya who were helping Asahi take down the net. Daichi just stood on the sidelines, looking a little lost as had become increasingly more common lately, not really sure what to do with himself.

                “It’s okay Kageyama,” Hinata reassured the boy as he methodically went around, putting volleyballs into the cart one at a time, “Nishinoya-san and Tanaka-san... they’re just like Sugawara-san was, they just don’t understand... I know you still think it’s best not to tell anyone, but don’t you think-“

                “No,” Kageyama whispered, “I can’t, even... even if it was just the team, it wouldn’t be just the team,” Hinata looked at Kageyama confused,  “The more people who know... It would just be a matter of time, before everyone found out. Even if you, or Sugawara-san don’t care, other people will,”

                “Kageyama,” Sugawara intervened gently, “If you don’t want us to tell anyone, we won’t, right Hinata?” The redhead nodded eagerly, wanting the setter to know he could still trust him, “I mean, I can’t exactly say anything, half the team still doesn’t know about me. Even if I could know that they won’t tell anyone, it doesn’t mean it won’t happen some other way,”

                Kageyama nodded along to the fellow setter’s words, hoping Hinata would understand his fears. Hinata had told Sugawara, with Kageyama’s permission, a little bit about what had happened – that they were together, at least kind of, and that Kageyama didn’t want anyone to know, hence the homophobe act. He hadn’t wanted to tell Sugawara anything else though, like about his parents and that. In turn, Sugawara had told Kageyama that he was gay too, the same as he’d told Hinata, as well as continung to profess how sorry he was for everything at every opportunity. He seemed to be taking his defence of Kageyama as a penance for how long he’d been the first one to attack him.

                Hinata and Kageyama were walking home, Hinata walking his bike with Kageyama to his house, then riding over the mountain to go home. Sugawara went in the opposite direction to them, so he had given his farewells at the school gates.

                “Y-you don’t think....” Kageyama mumbled, trailing off shaking his head as they walked next to each other. Hinata reached out slightly, letting his hand brush against Kageyama’s for a moment,

                “Hey, what is it?” he asked

                “About what Nishinoya-san said...  before Coach Ukai got mad...”

                “Don’t worry Kageyama,” Hinata reassured him, “Nishinoya-san isn’t a bad person – he’s not going to do anything. And I mean, he’s shorter than me! What exactly do you think he’ll do?”

                “I... I don’t know...” Kageyama drifted off in thought, face twitching every now and again, apparently thinking of all the things Nishinoya _could_ do. As the got to Kageyama’s front gate, Hinata tugged on the setter’s sleeve, pullinghim down a little so he could place a chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth.

                “Don’t worry,” Hinata said cheerfully, “Think about it this way – a whole weekend, sleeping in the same room as me!” The boy winked mischeviously, making Kageyama blush and forget to reprimand him for kissing in public.

                “Don’t be stupid – the whole team’s in the same room,” Kageyama mumbled, still not able to get rid of his blush. Hinata was not helping.

                “That’s what the covers are for,” he whispered cheekily before hopping on his bike and pedalling off, waving to Kageyama as he went. The setter stood there, waving back for a moment, before going inside, rubbing his face vigorously in the hopes of his blush dissipating.

 

                *******

 

                “Just five more minutes,” Hinata pleaded, “Please Takeda-sensei, I’m sure he’ll be here soon!”

                “I’m sorry Hinata,” the teacher sighed, motioning for Hinata to board the bus, “It’s already 8:15, everyone knew to be here before eight. We can’t wait any longer,”

                Hinata dragged his feet as he got back on the bus, Takeda-sensei getting on behind him, the bus doors closing with a hiss. As the engine rumbled, the bus lurching forward as it pulled out onto the road, Hinata sat down next to Sugawara towards the front of the bus.

                “Why isn’t he here?” Hinata asked the vice-captain desperately, “Just when he got back on the team?”

                “I, I don’t know Hinata,” Sugawara answered honestly, wishing he could be more reassuring, “Maybe he decided not to come for some reason?”

                “Did I make him mad?” Hinata asked sadly, “’Cause I kept saying he should tell people?”

                “What? No Hinata,” Sugawara reassured him, rubbing him gently on the shoulder, “I’m sure it’s not your fault,”

                “But he didn’t text me last night,” Hinata explained, “He always does – And he didn’t respond any of the time this morning when I asked where he was!”

                “Pfft,” a snort came from further back on the bus, “I don’t know what your complaining about, you get to have the weekend free of the guy,” Sugawara turned around in his seat to glare at Nishinoya, “What? I don’t know what he’s holding over you two, but you can drop it – he’s not here,”

                “Y-you don’t think they...” Hinata started worriedly, Sugawara turning back to see Hinata’s genuinely concerned face.

                “Don’t worry Hinata,” he reassured, raising his voice for the second part, “Even Nishinoya isn’t _that_ stupid,” Tsukishima snorted, while Nishinoya let out a yelp of indignation, Tanaka torn between laughing himself, or siding with his bro.

                The bus ride was relatively calm after that, Hinata eventually falling asleep with the rocking motion of the bus, the blankness of sleep calming his concerns about Kageyama’s whereabouts, at least for now.


	28. It's My Fault

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> Saw you all last chapter in the comments speculating over what had happened to Kageyama. Well speculate no more (or at least less), here is the next chapter :D
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> nightshade

                Hinata pouted in the corner of the room, knees tucked under his chin as he stared at his phone screen. Kageyama had yet to respond to any of his texts, he’d even tried calling to no avail. Practice wasn’t much fun either, he had finally gotten to practice with Kageyama again and it was harder than he expected for it to be taken back so suddenly. The rest of the team were still at dinner, Hinata having only had a small helping of rice before going back to the big room everyone would be sleeping in.

                The fact that everyone else was still noisy and happy, despite Kageyama’s worrying absence, just made Hinata uncomfortable – how could they not care that he wasn’t here? Even Sugawara did not seem overly concerned, explaining that the setter had probably just stayed home after Nishinoya’s outburst the other day. _It could be true_ , Hinata conceded to himself, _But then why isn’t he responding to my texts?_

                A knock on the door startled Hinata, looking up to see Sugawara smiling gently from the open doorway. He wandered in to the room, sitting down next to Hinata.

                “You weren’t at dinner, you should eat more,” Sugawara commented in a concerned voice, pulling a chocolate bar out of his pocket and offering it to Hinata, “Sorry, it’s all the vending machine had left. I think Takeda-sensei got there before me,”

                “I don’t want it,” Hinata mumbled, pushing the candy away. Sugawara’s eyes grew more concerned, realising Hinata was more than just a little upset.

                “What’s wrong? I told you, Kageyama probably just-“

               “He wouldn’t!” Hinata said, tears beginning to prick in his eyes. The concerns and worries he’d been carrying all day, throwing himself into volleyball in the hopes of being able to forget them for a moment, all began to overwhelm him. “He would tell me! I’m so worried – what if something happened to him?”

                “Hinata, it’s probably nothing,” Sugawara tried to assure the boy, “He’s phone’s probably just dead or something,”

                “It’s been two nights,” Hinata cried, shaking his head at Sugawara’s words, “He texts me every night before bed. The only time he doesn’t is when something’s wrong – something has to be wrong!”

                “It’s okay Hinata,” Sugawara attempted to comfort the sobbing boy, rubbing his back gently, “We’ll go back tomorrow afternoon, then you’ll know that he’s alright,”

                “B-but what if he’s being weird again?” Hinata asked quietly, “I have to help him get better,”

                “What are you talking about Hinata?” the third year asked, wrapping his arm around the small boy’s shoulders, pulling him closer to him.

                “He always gets these stupid ideas in his head, that people hate him, or that I hate him, and he starts acting weird and I have to make him stop. He always thinks it’s his fault, but it’s not...” Hinata started sobbing more heavily, letting Sugawara pull him onto his shoulder, hiccuping breaths muffled in the boy’s shirt.

                “What do you mean weird? You mean like when he’s mean to you in front of the others?” Sugawara questioned, not quite sure what Hinata meant.

                “Sometimes,” Hinata sniffed, leaning back from Sugawara’s shoulder to talk more easily, “He keeps thinking bad things about himself, that other people think those things. He gets so scared. Last time he almost scrubbed his skin off, ‘cos he thought people could tell where I touched him-“

                Clattering rang from the hallway, Hinata watching through blurry eyes as a can of soda rolled into the room from the doorway. Agitated and confused, Hinata didn’t realise what had happened until Sugawara stood up and asked who was there. A moment of silence past and just as Sugawara stepped forward to go get the eavesdropper a guilty looking Nishinoya stepped into the entrance way.

                “N-Nishinoya-senpai?” Hinata asked, still a little confused as to what was going on as he scrubbed at the tears still running down his cheeks, trying to dry them with the edges of his sleeves.

                “What do you want Nishinoya?” Sugawara asked tersely, unable to gauge how much the libero had heard or understood.

                “I-it’s elses everyone’s room too,” he replied lamely, distracted by the crying Hinata, “What are you even crying over him for anyways? I-it’s his own fault if he feels like he needs to ‘clean himself’ of you, what kind of jerk-“

                “Only ‘cos he thinks you all hate him!” Hinata retorted, cutting the second year off, “Why couldn’t you just be nicer to him, maybe he wouldn’t be so scared...”

                “So what if we hate him? Why wouldn’t we after everything he’s done to you?” Nishinoya argued more strongly, struggling to understand why Hinata would bother shedding any tears over someone like Kageyama. Hinata’s eyes just widened with Nishinoya’s words,

                “It’s because of me?... It’s my fault, isn’t it,” he started sobbing again, “I only cause him trouble, if he didn’t like me he wouldn’t hate himself, it’s my fault!”

                “No, Hinata,” Sugawara consoled him, “You can’t think that – it’s because of you that Kageyama doesn’t hate himself, you’re the one who stuck by him, even when everyone else, even I, didn’t want to give him a chance,”

                “But if it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t have any problems in the first place, he wouldn’t have to be scared. Even when we’re alone, sometimes I catch him looking around, as if he expects someone to spring out and catch us. He just kissed me and he felt like he had to almost scrub his skin off just so no one would find out!” Sugawara tried to comfort the stricken boy, whispering assurances that it wasn’t his fault, that if Kageyama still wanted to be with him after all that, then surely he mustn’t hate him.

                Nishinoya stood, watching the vice captain try and reassure the first year, gradually slowing his breathing and wiping his face clear of tears and snot until he’d finally started to calm down.

                “Kageyama kissed you?” he blurted dumbly, struggling to process Hinata’s rantings, “But, doesn’t he...” Nishinoya trailed off, seeing the obvious solution but unwilling to accept it.

                “Come on Hinata,” Sugawara coaxed the boy to his feet, shuffling him towards the door, “Let’s go wash your face and get ready for bed, okay?” They walked right past Nishinoya, ignoring him as he struggled internally to resolve what he’d learned.

                Nishinoya kept a distance from Hinata and Sugawara for the rest of the camp, looking at Hinata with awkward confusion or guilt every time he came over, finding some excuse to leave as quickly as he could. Hinata took solace in the fact that, although he had stupidly revealed Kageyama’s secret to someone else, at least Nishinoya didn’t seem to have told anyone else. He didn’t seem to want to talk about Kageyama anymore either, surprising Tanaka with his apathy when the topic came up over dinner the next night before it was shut down by Sugawara. At least without Nishinoya’s fire in the mix, sentiments against Kageyama seemed merely disapproving at worst, giving Hinata hope that maybe he could rejoin the volleyball team with more ease than it had first seemed.

 

                *******

               

                When Monday morning finally arrived, Hinata was at the gym before anyone else. Kageyama still hadn’t responded to any of his messages of calls, so he’d had to wait until school to see him. When he didn’t show up to practice, his concerns only heightened, even Sugawara unable to fully assuage them when he was starting to become a little concerned himself.

                Cleaning up the gym after morning practice, Sugawara and Hinata were helping pick up all the discarded volleyballs when Nishinoya ran in the door, panting. He jogged over to Hinata and Sugawara who were looking at him apprehensively, unsure what it was that had demanded such urgency.

                “K-Kageyama,” he gasped, trying to regain his breath, “Just saw... school gates...” Hinata had already bolted before Nishinoya could finish speaking, all he needed to know was Kageyama was there and he was going to go see him. All his fears had been unfounded, he really had just forgotten to charge his phone, maybe he had just been running really late for the bus. Hinata came around the corner, school entrance in view,

                “Kageyama!” Hinata shouted excitedly, spotting the setter trudging towards the classrooms. The boy turned at the sound of his name, seeing Hinata his eyes widened before turning and scurrying off to classes before the redhead could run over to him. Not that he was. Hinata was stuck there, grin slowly falling from his face as the image of Kageyama, cheek purple and slightly swollen, burning into his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. I was talking to this girl in the same lab as me today about this fic (shout out to you if you make it this far into my crappy fic btw <3 ) and she gave me an AMAZING idea for some extra angst :D


	29. It Was An Accident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> Here is the latest chapter, hope you enjoy the beginning of the final round of angst (the angstiest yet! :D )  
> Plus we reached 4k+ hits and 300+ kudos, wooot!
> 
> nightshade <3

                Hinata got a talking to from the teacher for showing up ten minutes late to class, although he wasn’t really paying attention. After Kageyama had run off, he had just stood there dumbfounded for a while, trying to understand what he’d seen. The side of Kageyama’s face was a nasty purple, although it looked like it had already started to fade a little – did Kageyama get hurt and that’s why he didn’t come to the camp? But why didn’t he respond to any of his messages – was he so hurt he was in hospital until now?

                Unable to quiet his mind, Hinata fidgeted all through the morning classes, itching for lunch so he could finally go and see Kageyama and talk to him face to face. When the bell finally rung, Hinata scurried out of the room before the teacher had even finished dismissing them. He waited by the gym where they normally ate, early enough that most other people weren’t even outside yet, so he figured Kageyama would be there soon. After a while Hinata became more worried, Kageyama hadn’t shown up yet, where was he?

                Wandering around, Hinata walked by Kageyama’s class, noting that his books were still there, but he wasn’t, so he must still be somewhere around. After ten minutes of desperately searching everywhere he could think of, Hinata wandered back towards their spot behind the gym in the hopes that maybe Kageyama would be there waiting for him.

                On his way back, he noticed the gym doors weren’t locked, maybe someone had forgotten to lock up properly after practice this morning. Peeking inside for no real reason, Hinata found Kageyama sitting just inside, eating his lunch. The setter looked up at Hinata peering in the door, startled, clearly not expecting anyone to come by during lunch.

                “Kageyama!” Hinata cried, throwing the door open and rushing inside to the boy, “Where’ve you been?! What happened to you?! Why didn’t you answer any of my texts...” Hinata’s questions trailed off as he noticed Kageyama staring at him fearfully, “... Kageyama?”

                “Uh, y-you should just leave,” Kageyama stammered, “I, I don’t want to eat lunch with you anymore, so... just leave,” Hinata looked at the frightened setter, confused and hurt by his words,

                “What are you talking about Kageyama? Why didn’t you show up for the training camp?!” Hinata demanded, wanting to know what was wrong with Kageyama. How did he get hurt like that? If that was why he couldn’t go, why wasn’t he just saying so?

                “I-I wasn’t allowed,” Kageyama replied meekly, hoping that answering the question would hasten the smaller boy’s departure, “P-please, just go now,”

                “Why? What happened to your face?” Hinata continued asking.

                “I, uh, I got hit by a volleyball. It was an accident,” Kageyama explained.

                “A volleyball?” Hinata asked incredulously, “How did you get hit by a volleyball when everyone else has been at training camp all weekend?”

                “Um, um, I have to go now,” Kageyama stumbled to his feet, trying to get past Hinata to the door so he could escape the boy’s questions. Hinata stepped forward to block of Kageyama’s route of escape, accidentally bumping him with his arm as he reached out to stop him. Kageyama lurched back from the contact with a hiss, half-doubling over and causing Hinata to take a step back out of concern. “I, I have to go,” Kageyama mumbled, rushing out of the gym while Hinata is still hesitant to stop him after his reaction.

                By the time Hinata rockets out the door to go after him, he’s already disappeared. Not knowing where he’s gone, and with less than half the break left, Hinata figures he’s better off going to find Sugawara.

                “Sugawara-san?” Hinata asks softly, tugging the edge of the vice-captains shirt as he’s walking down a corridor with Asahi. The third year turns around to see who it is, first a smile and then concern flashing across his face when he sees Hinata.

                “Um, you go on ahead Asahi, I’ll see you at practice okay?” Sugawara tells the ace, ushering him away before turning back to Hinata, “Let’s find somewhere a little more quiet, shall we?”

                They end up at one of the tables typically occupied by third years out in the main courtyard. In other circumstances Hinata would probably excited to be sitting there, but his being there today was a sombre one.

                “I don’t know what’s wrong with Kageyama,” Hinata confessed to the older setter, “He wasn’t at our normal spot at lunch today, and when I finally found him he wouldn’t answer any of my questions properly – he just kept saying he had to leave, and that he didn’t want me there,”

                “You didn’t get anything out of him?” Sugawara asked concerned. Although he hadn’t seen anything, Nishinoya had informed him after Hinata had already left that Kageyama had a big bruise on his face, “He didn’t even tell you why he didn’t show at camp, or how he got hurt?”

                “He said he got hit by a volleyball,” Hinata scoffed sardonically, “Which is nonsense... I’m worried-... I think maybe someone _did_ it to him,” Hinata continued in a quivering voice, “I think he maybe has other bruises too. When I tried to stop him leaving, it looked like I hurt him when I bumped him with my arm,” Sugawara gripped Hinata’s arm, trying to comfort him but his too-tight grip revealed his own concern,

                “You think someone at school might have done it?” he asked in a worried voice.

                “I don’t know,” Hinata answered, “I don’t think anyone else knows that we were, dating or whatever, but why else would someone do it?” Hinata worried about who might have tried to hurt Kageyama and why. Sure a lot of people didn’t particularly like him, but surely none of them disliked him so much as to hurt him. Kageyama didn’t let on that anyone disliked him so much, only ever concerned that others would find out about his feelings for Hinata...

                “You... you don’t think...” Hinata started, not really wanting to voice the thought, but unable to ignore it once it had lodged itself in his head, “You don’t think his parents...” Hinata looked at Sugawara, eyes tinged with fear.

                “I mean, I don’t know,” Sugawara said, not sure why Hinata would so quickly jump to such a conclusion, but recognising the genuine concern the boy felt that he might be right, “Have they ever done something like that before?”

                “I don’t think so, but, Kageyama was always really scared of what would happen if they ever found out he liked a boy,” Hinata revealed, knowing Kageyama hadn’t said anything like that to Sugawara himself, but feeling that surely it was okay to tell him in a situation like this. The third year turned pale at the information, understanding Hinata’s concern.

                “Well, let’s not jump to conclusions,” Sugawara said, trying to be optimistic, “Let’s try and talk to Kageyama again first. I mean, I still haven’t paid him back for all the trouble I caused last time I assumed something about him without talking to him first,” the setter said sheepishly, giving Hinata a little hope that things might not always be what they seem, despite the sickening sinking feeling in his stomach that he was right.

                Sugawara and Hinata planned to wait by the school gates as soon as school was over, in the hopes of catching him before he left. Considering his absence this morning and the way he had avoided Hinata at lunch, it seemed prudent to assume he wouldn’t be showing up for afternoon practice either.

                When they spotted the boy trudging out of the school building, Sugawara had to hold Hinata back from running full speed towards him, cautioning him not to come on too strong lest he spook the boy. While they were talking however they failed to notice that Kageyama had not turned to walk home as usual, but instead was getting into a small blue car.

                “What’s Kageyama doing?” Hinata asked out loud, ignoring Sugawara’s advice. Turning to see what Hinata was talking about, he saw Kageyama getting into a car driven by some middle aged woman. “Why’s his mum picking him up, normally he walks home? Is it because he’s hurt?”

                “I don’t know,” Sugawara said as they watched the car drive off, “But I guess we’ll have to wait until tomorrow,” The two walked off back towards the gym, neither particularly able to focus on volleyball, minds filled with concerns about Kageyama.


	30. I Didn't Want To

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone,
> 
> Promise you won't kill me, okay, good. You can read the chapter now - remember, you promised :P
> 
> nightshade

                “Hey, Shou?” Hinata’s father asked, handing the boy a wet dish to dry. Hinata took it from his father, drying with the dish towel and placing it on the rack next to the sink with the others, waiting for the next one. His mother was upstairs reading Natsu a story, so they were the ones doing the dishes. Hinata’s father had unexpectedly come home in the middle of the week, claiming something about his room in the city needing to be fumigated.

                “What?” Hinata answered as his father handed him another dish, concentrating a little as he dried it, not wanting the blame for another broken plate.

                “What was the name of that boy you liked again?” he asked

                “Dad?!” Hinata squawked, almost dropping the plate, looking around to make sure his mother or sister weren’t suddenly eavesdropping on them.

                “Don’t worry, they’re still upstairs,” his father said, “Although I don’t know why it’s such a big secret – we’re just gonna tease you a bit,”

                “Because Kageyama wants it a secret... even if I keep ending up telling people by accident,” Hinata explained sheepishly.

                “Ah, so it was Kageyama,” his father hummed to himself, continuing after a pause, “Do you know what his father does – like for a job?”

                “I don’t know,” Hinata answered, “I think he works where you do though? He knows you at least,”

                “Really?” his father said, sounding a little surprised.

                “Yeah, why?”

                “Oh, there was just some ruckus the other day at work, apparently some guy – Kageyama – was quitting. I don’t know why, but apparently my name came up so someone told me about it,” his father explained, “I didn’t know who he was, the name just sounded kind of familiar though – I guess that’s why,”

                “Kageyama’s dad quit?” Hinata asked, not entirely sure what to make of the news, “Because of you?”

                “I don’t know, like I said, I’d never met the guy, at least not that I remember. I only heard about it because apparently he mentioned me, I don’t know what he said though,” Hinata’s father clarified, “I’m sure it’s not that big a deal though. I looked over his record out of curiosity, and he seemed to be a hard enough worker, so he shouldn’t have too much trouble finding a new job,”

                The rest of the conversation ended up being his father just trying to pry information out of Hinata about how he and Kageyama were doing, he suspected so he could tease him about it judging by how he responded to Hinata’s embarrassed silence when he asked if they’d kissed.

                “Oooh, my Shou-chan’s first kiss,” he laughed as Hinata’s face turned pink.

                “Shut up,” Hinata pouted, refusing to answer any more of his questions, no matter how much he promised he wouldn’t tease him anymore.

 

                *******

 

                Hinata and Sugawara stood hiding behind the corner of the school entrance as students slowly trickled into school. They’d slipped out of morning practice half an hour early in the hopes of catching Kageyama before he went to class. After a while they were worried maybe he wasn’t coming, or he’d somehow slipped by them. It was less than ten minutes until classes began, and most of the students had already made their way inside.

                Just as they were about to leave, the same car as yesterday pulled up out the front of the school. Kageyama’s mother could be seen in the driver’s seat, saying something, before Kageyama got out of the back, shouldering his bag as he began trudging towards class. The bruise on his face had already shrunk a bit, and it wasn’t swollen any more, just a dark patch across half of his cheek. Despite that, it still looked painful to Hinata, who’d himself received many a volleyball to the face. As soon as the car pulled away, Hinata burst after Kageyama from their hiding spot, Sugawara close behind.

                “Kageyama!” Hinata called, the setter turning to face Hinata with a look of terror, “Kageyama!” Hinata called again as he came closer to the boy, Sugawara jogging just behind.

                “Um,” Kageyama looked behind Hinata worriedly, eyes glancing back towards the school gates, “I, uh, I have to go to class now, sorry,” Kageyama began speed walking towards the building, ignoring Hinata jogging next to him, pestering him with questions about where he’d been, why was he ignoring him, why was he acting so weird?

                “Please stop following me,” Kageyama pleaded under his breath, shocking Hinata enough with the sincerity of his words that he was able to escape and make it to his classroom before Hinata could catch up again. Reluctantly heading off towards his own classroom, Sugawara patted him on the back reassuringly,

                “Perhaps try a more... gentle approach next time, yeah?” he suggested.

                “Yeah, okay,” Hinata agreed, he didn’t want to annoy Kageyama or anything, but he was just so worried. If Kageyama would just talk to him, tell him what was going on, he wouldn’t have to ambush him by the school gates.

                Hinata decided to ambush Kageyama again, this time without Sugawara. _I’m not ambushing him though_ , Hinata defended to himself, _I’m just... waiting for him to come to me_. He was hiding behind a small vent sticking out the back of the gym, near where he and Kageyama would eat lunch together. He was hoping that Kageyama would come and eat his lunch there if he though Hinata wasn’t there (Hinata had already checked that the gym had been locked that morning).

                After about ten minutes of waiting, legs starting to cramp a little from having to hide behind the small box, Kageyama finally showed up, cautiously looking around for someone before deciding the coast was clear and sitting in his normal spot.

                “Kageyama!” Hinata shouted, springing out from his hiding spot and causing Kageyama to almost spurt his milk everywhere, “Uh, Kageyama,” he announced in a decidedly calmer tone, remembering Sugawara’s advice, “Um... hi,”

                “Wh-what are you doing here?” Kageyama stammered, looking around furtively as if expecting someone else to come jumping out from somewhere.

                “This is where we always have lunch,” Hinata pointed out, walking over and sitting down confidently next to Kageyama who scuttled back slightly.

                “I-I was here first, so, um, can’t you just leave?” Kageyama asked nervously, seemingly ready to leave himself if that was what it took.

                “Why, so you can sit behind the gym alone again?” Hinata asked, a little too bitterly, as he remembered Kageyama sitting here alone, eating lunch everyday by himself because no one else wanted to sit with him. “I thought we were friends, I thought... you liked me? Why are you suddenly avoiding me? Is that why you stopped coming to practice, even though you finally got back on the team? Because of me?”

                “I-I don’t l-like you,” Kageyama stammered, eyes shut closed, “I, I was just confused – because I didn’t have any friends. Yo-you just tricked me, I’m n-not a gross faggot,”

                “Kageyama?” Hinata reached out to the boy tentatively, worried not about Kageyama not liking him, but rather the fact that he was talking about himself like that again.

                “N-no! I’m normal now! Just, go away!” Kageyama yelled, tears starting to form at the corners of his eyes, still clenched shut so he couldn’t look Hinata in the face. He wasn’t able to see Hinata lean over to hug him, expecting him to run off crying.

                “Kageyama,” Hinata said sadly, reaching out to embrace the poor boy, wanting to tell him that it was okay, he had to stop thinking those kinds of things about himself. When he brought his arms around Kageyama though, his eyes shot open as he hissed in pain, Hinata recoiling from him, concerned.

                “Kageyama, what was that? Are you hurt?” he asked worriedly.

                “N-no, I’m fine. J-just go away,” Kageyama tried to brush him off as Hinata tried to tug at his shirt to get a look at Kageyama. “No, stop, don’t look,” the setter struggled, groaning in pain as he kept jolting himself in the altercation, eventually losing to Hinata who pulled his shirt up to under his armpits.

                “Wh-?” Hinata just gawked at what he saw, Kageyama still weakly struggling to pull his shirt back down, but not really caring anymore, to upset to be bothered with anything. “Kageyama, what happened?”

                Hinata gingerly touched at near the edge of one of the blisters along Kageyama’s side, pulling back when the setter hissed with pain. He let the boy’s shirt fall a little so he could see his face properly, not bothering to pull it all the way back down and not wanting to risk accidentally bumping one of the dozen or so blisters.

                “Kageyama, what happened? How did you get those?” Hinata asked, trying to get Kageyama to listen to him.

                “I’m sorry,” Kageyama kept sobbing softly, “I didn’t want to, but it hurt,” Hinata just held Kageyama, wrapping his arms around his neck, careful not to touch any of the wounds on his torso, or the bruise on his face. “I’m sorry I lied, I’m sorry,”

                “Shh, it’s okay Kageyama,” Hinata whispered in his ear, not wanting to put any more pressure on the already sobbing boy, although he’d have to get a straight answer from him later, “It’s okay, I’m here,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. I will probably wait until near the end of the story to update the tags, just to avoid spoilers for those reading as it happens


	31. I Don't Know Why I'm Crying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone,
> 
> Let the pain and tears continue *laughs maniacally*  
> Don't worry though, it's fanfiction, the happy end will always win through (at least here it will) - there's just gonna be some angsty times first :)
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> nightshade

                Hinata tried to wait until Kageyama had calmed down enough that he thought he could ask him some questions without making him more upset, but by the time Kageyama’s sobs had quietened down to the occasional hiccup, and he’d stopped shaking so much, there wasn’t much of the break left.

                “Kageyama?” Hinata asked softly, the boy grunting a little in acknowledgement, “It’s almost time to go back to class... maybe you should come to volleyball practice this afternoon-“

                “No, no I can’t!” Kageyama cried, voice muffled where he’d pressed his face into the smaller boy’s shoulder.

                “Y-you don’t have to play if you don’t want to, if it hurts too much,” Hinata tried to reassure him, not wanting him to start crying again.

                “No, she’ll know,” Kageyama hissed, “She waits for me to make sure I don’t go anywhere,”

                “You mean your mum?” Hinata asks, recalling that the boy’s mother had been picking him up and dropping him off to school all week, “Is that why she’s suddenly picking you up? So you don’t go to volleyball practice?” he asked, confused. Kageyama shook his head, not answering at first before reluctantly whispering,

                “So I can’t see you...”

                “Me?!” Hinata exclaimed, “Why would she-“

                “Because you kissed me!” Kageyama yelled accusingly, “You kissed me – right outside my house, and someone saw and told my parents!” the setter explained, looking like he was about to start crying again. At that point the bell rang, and students could be heard milling back to class. Kageyama clearly wasn’t in a fit state to go to class, and Hinata still needed to find out what was going on, so he quickly ushered the boy across from the gym to the club rooms, hoping no one would notice them and ask what they were doing. Thankfully the club room wasn’t locked, so Hinata and Kageyama slipped inside while everyone else went back to class.

                “What do you mean someone told your parents?” Hinata asked, now that they were relatively safe from being discovered for the rest of the afternoon, figuring he’d deal with the consequences of a skipped class later.

                “On Friday afternoon, when you kissed me, one of the neighbours saw, a-and told my mother,” Kageyama explained slowly, trying not to collapse back into a sobbing heap again. “She was so mad, she just kept screaming things at me, saying she didn’t raise me to be a pervert,”

                “You’re not a pervert Kageyama,” Hinata reassured him, rubbing his shoulder consolingly.

                “When my father came home, she told him and... and he was just really quiet, I could hear her yelling downstairs, but I couldn’t hear him at all. He just came upstairs to my room, and... and..” Kageyama started sobbing again, Hinata hugging him, rubbing his back while the setter cried. At this point Hinata wasn’t even sure he wanted to know what happened, but he figured it couldn’t be worse than whatever he would just end up imagining.

                “It’s okay Kageyama, take as long as you want,” he whispered to the sobbing boy.

                “He just kept doing it. He held me down and kept making me say that it was wrong, and you were wrong and I wasn’t like that. When I wouldn’t he just kept pressing them into my sides, it hurt! It hurt so much!” he cried, sobs wracking his body. Hinata was pretty sure Kageyama’s sides were chafing against him as he sobbed, but he didn’t seem to want to let go. “I didn’t want to, but it hurt!”

                “It’s okay Kageyama,” Hinata cooed softly as he kept crying, “It’s not your fault, he made you do it. It’s okay,” It took a while after that for Kageyama to settle down again, the stress and pain of the whole thing leaving his thoughts and emotions twisted and wrecked. Hinata thought it best not to push for any more after that. Instead they just spent the rest of the afternoon in relative silence, Hinata occasionally telling him about some of the little things he’d missed at the camp, like when Tanaka had put a slug in Tsukishima’s shoe, or when Nishinoya had startled Asahi so bad he spurted milk out his nose.

                When it was almost time for the bell to ring, Kageyama started getting ready to go, not wanting to be late being picked up by his mother.

                “Are... are you gonna text me later?” Hinata asked, hoping the question wasn’t too selfish.

                “Um, sorry, I can’t,” Kageyama apologised sadly, “My mum took away my phone... so I couldn’t call you or anything...”

                “Oh, well that’s okay then,” Hinata replied, thankful at least that Kageyama hadn’t just been ignoring him, “Just, promise you’ll sit with me at lunch tomorrow?” Kageyama just nodded as he stood and walked out of the room, having to go by his class first to get his things before he could go. Hinata just sat in the club room, figuring his stuff could just stay there until tomorrow, it wasn’t like he was going to do any homework tonight anyway.

                He couldn’t help but feel bad, why was he the one feeling so drained, Kageyama was the one who was getting hurt by his own parents. He should be trying to figure out a way to help Kageyama, not sitting here moping around. Noises could be heard outside as the rest of the team came up to the room to get ready for practice. Sugawara and Asahi were the first to come in, Sugawara trying to unlock the door, only to find it already open. He walked in to notice the dismal looking first year sitting in the corner.

                “Suga-san!” Hinata cried, tears starting to trickle down his cheeks. The third year dropped his bag on the floor as he swept over to the boy, concerned.

                “What’s wrong Hinata?” Sugawara asked, worried as to why the boy was hiding in the club room crying. The rest of the team milled around the door, not sure what was going on.

                “I don’t know why I’m crying,” Hinata whined through bleary eyes, “I’m not the one who should be sad,”

                “Hinata what’s wrong?” Sugawara repeated, trying to understand what had upset the boy so much, “Is this about Kageyama? Did you talk to him at lunch?” Hinata nodded weakly through his tears.

                “It’s so much worse Sugawara-san,” he sobbed quietly, “I just thought they’d be mad or something. I didn’t think...” Hinata just starting sobbing uncontrollably again, the gravity of what had happened still continuing to occur to him, “I’m so scared,”

                “What are you scared of Hinata? Kageyama?” Sugawara asked, still trying to get a grip on the situation as Daichi corralled the rest of the team off to the gym to give the boy some privacy.

                “What if he _dies_?!” Hinata whined.

                “Dies?! Hinata, please try a tell me clearly, what is going on?” Sugawara said in a firm voice.

                “Kageyama, it was his dad!” Hinata tried to explain, understanding flashing across the vice-captain’s face, quickly replaced by concern again, “He hurt him, he did all that horrible stuff, because of me,”

                “No, Hinata,” Sugawara tried to reassure him, wanting to make sure Hinata understood at least that, “It’s not your fault. Whatever Kageyama’s father did was his choice, it wasn’t because of you,”

                “But if I hadn’t kissed him!” Hinata sobbed, “They wouldn’t have found out. Kageyama kept telling me to be careful, but I wouldn’t listen! I thought it would be fine!”

                “It’s okay Hinata, we’ll make sure Kageyama’s safe,” Sugawara promised

                “Really?” Hinata asked, wanting to hope, but not sure what he could even do.

                “Don’t worry, it may take a little time, but you’re not going to give up trying to help Kageyama, are you?” Sugawara asked, Hinata shaking his head vehemently, “Well there you go. Don’t worry, I’m going to help all I can too, okay?”

                “Okay,” Hinata agreed softly, tears starting to subside a little, his normally energetic self exhausted from his concerns about Kageyama all week and learning about what he’d been through draining him completely. He soon fell asleep in the club room, Sugawara leaving him there, tucking his folded up jersey under the boy’s head as a pillow, to go down to the gym and figure out what he was going to tell the team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. Remember when I told you about that girl from my lab giving me an uber angsty idea. Yeah, blame her for the burns :D


	32. I Just Have To Behave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone :D
> 
> I actually put a touch of comedic relief in this one (don't worry, still plenty of heavy angst ;P), I thought maybe you guys needed it.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> nightshade

                Hinata ended up being gently woken by Sugawara after practice had finished, leaving the club room just as the rest of the team came up from cleaning the gym. Some of them gave him weird looks, while others were clearly not trying to. It was the same the next morning, although none of them ever said anything, Hinata would catch them giving him odd, wistful looks whenever they thought he wasn’t looking.

                Sugawara came to him after practice, asking if he could meet with both him and Kageyama during lunch. Hinata said he’d have to ask Kageyama, but that he’d try to get him to come, Sugawara seeming to accept the answer. Going to class, Hinata tried to keep an eye out for Kageyama amongst the bustling students, only managing to catch a glimpse of him before having to rush off to class. _At least he’s here_ , Hinata tried to think positively.

 

                *******

 

                “Kageyama,” Sugawara greeted the boy softly, eyes lingering for a moment on the still fading bruise on the boy’s cheek. It was almost gone now, another day or two and it will have disappeared. _Those burns won’t though_ , Hinata thought bitterly, _The worst ones will probably leave scars... Every time he looks at them, he’s gonna have to remember his parents did that..._ He hadn’t told Sugawara about them, as far as he was aware all that Kageyama’s parents had done was give him that bruise. He’d spoken with the vice-captain briefly before he’d left the previous day, Sugawara just wanting to confirm one or two things once Hinata had calmed down a little, not wanting any misunderstandings.

                “Are you okay? Does your face still hurt?” Sugawara asked with concern

                “Um, it’s fine I guess,” Kageyama mumbled, not really wanting to talk about it. He’d only agreed to talk to the vice captain after Hinata had pleaded with him.

                “Well, as long as you’re okay,” Sugawara said weakly, “I... I know it must be hard, and a lot’s going on but... have you thought about what you’re going to do?”

                “Do?” Kageyama quirked, unsure what Sugawara was trying to say

                “Well, I mean...” Sugawara hesitated, uncomfortable saying it so bluntly, as well as knowing Kageyama didn’t want to say it either, “After what your parents did... Don’t you think you should do something? Can’t you tell someone?”

                “Wh-what? Why?” Kageyama stammered, starting to become defensive.

                “Well, what if they do it again – or worse? We’re both worried about you,” Sugawara said, Hinata nodding along vehemently.

                “I don’t want you to die Kageyama,” Hinata wailed sadly.

                “I-I’m not gonna die, dumbass,” Kageyama defended, “I-it won’t happen again. I... I just have to behave,”

                “’Behave’?” Sugawara asked incredulously, “Kageyama you didn’t do anything wrong, they’re the ones who hit you,”

                “Th-that’s just because I was b-bad,” Kageyama struggled to say, “As long as I do the right thing, i-it’ll be fine,”

                “You’re not bad Kageyama! You’re the goodest person I know!” Hinata announced emphatically, grabbing one of Kageyama’s hands in both of his, holding it desperately.

                “B-but, then w-why would they punish me?” Kageyama asked, struggling to think through what he was saying, “I mean, they’re adults so... they probably know these things,”

                “That’s not true!” Hinata countered before Sugawara could speak, “I... I told my dad – and he didn’t say any of that!”

                “What?” Kageyama asked weakly, face paling at Hinata’s confession, “Y-you told your dad?”

                “But you’re not listening! I told you, he didn’t care! He was happy!” Hinata tried to get his point across, “He’s an adult, and he seems to think it’s okay – so you parents are wrong,”

                “B-but... b-but...” Kageyama stammered, not sure what to think, “Then why...?”

                “I don’t know,” Hinata answered honestly, “But, even adults can be bad people,”

                “Th-they’re not bad people,” Kageyama tried to argue, “They’re... they’re my parents. If they're bad people...”

                “Kageyama,” Sugawara interjected, “Just because your parents did something wrong... It’s not your fault, you can make your own choices,” Kageyama just sat silently, trying to process everything, the idea that maybe his parents were the ones who were wrong... maybe it really was okay, to like Hinata...

                “Just promise me,” Sugawara continued, snapping Kageyama out of his thoughts, “If something else happens, call Hinata or I – or the police if you need to. We just want to make sure you’re safe,”

                “I... I can’t,” Kageyama answered tentatively, “M-my mum took away my phone... so I couldn’t talk to Hinata,” Sugawara paused in thought, worry evident on his face.

                “You can have mine!” Hinata offered, pulling his phone out of his pocket and proffering it forward, hesitating a moment and pulling it back, “Uh, just let me delete some stuff first,”

                “I can’t take your phone,” Kageyama retorted, “How am I supposed to call you if I have your phone?”

                “You could call Sugawara, or someone else,” Hinata pointed out, “I’m sure he could probably help more anyway,”

                “Yeah, but...” Kageyama bit his tongue, not wanting to finish his sentence, Hinata wondering with a slight blush if Kageyama had maybe just wanted to talk to him more. Hinata handed his phone to Kageyama after a minute, the setter reluctantly taking it, holding it a little reverently as if it were more than just some cheap phone.

                Hinata watched from a safe distance that afternoon, watching as Kageyama got into his mother’s car before she drove off. Sugawara was walking next to him as they headed to the club room.

                “What exactly did you have to delete from your phone anyway?” Sugawara asked teasingly, trying to lighten the mood a little, “Do I even want to know?”

                “N-nothing! Just, like, um, some cat pictures and stuff,” Hinata spluttered lamely, the tips of his ears starting to redden.

                “I’m sure Kageyama probably wouldn’t care about your browser history,” Sugawara joked reassuringly, startling when Hinata stopped suddenly and yelped,

                “I forgot about my browser history!”

 

                *******

 

                It was one in the morning, and Hinata still couldn’t sleep. _Kageyama probably doesn’t even know how to look up your browser history_ , he thought to himself, getting up out of bed and wandering downstairs to get a drink of water. He’d been up all night, tossing and turning over whether or not Kageyama would be okay. What if his parent’s tried something again? They wouldn’t though right, because they thought Kageyama was doing what they wanted. As long he they thought that, he’d be fine, so they would just have to make sure that they didn’t become suspicious.

                Placing his empty glass next to the sink, Hinata started wandering back to the stairs to go back up to his bed and try to sleep again. He stopped when he heard a sudden knocking on the front door. Startled, and a little scared, Hinata walked over to the door, jumping a little as the knocking came again, louder this time. _Who would be here at this time?_ Hinata wondered, his father was still home, so it wasn’t him coming back from the city unexpected. Besides, he’d have his keys.

                “Hello,” Hinata asked cautiously, raising his voice a little, “Wh-who is it?”

                “Hinata?” he heard a weak voice from the other side of the door

                “Kageyama?!” Hinata exclaimed, quickly unlocking the door and flinging it open, flinching back from the cold night air. He saw Kageyama leaning against the door frame, breathing heavy and half shivering from the cold. _No wonder_ , Hinata thought considering that it looked like the boy was only wearing his pyjamas. He grew a lot more serious when he saw the red marks leeching through the boys t-shirt, pulling the boy inside and closing the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder what Hinata's been browsing???  
> (Probably tips on how to grow taller overnight)


	33. Natsu Is Very Upset

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings readers,
> 
> Please enjoy the newest chapter - nurse Hinata will see you now <3  
> We're starting to get close to the end, I'm predicting maybe another three chapters? Probably no more than five.  
> (Don't worry though as I will almost immediately launch into the companion fic - which will probably be even longer :D)
> 
> Thanks for all the support so far, it's been overwhelming,
> 
> nightshade

                Hinata half dragged the boy upstairs to his room, arm wrapped under the boy’s armpits to hold him up, careful not to touch his sides too much. His skin felt freezing, the sweat patches under his arms and down the back of his shirt definitely not helping him keep warm. Getting to his room, Hinata quickly turned the heater on, even though it wasn’t particularly cold inside, just wanting to get Kageyama warmed up.

                “Kageyama, what’s going on?” Hinata hissed in a panic, hoping he hadn’t woken anyone, wanting to find out why Kageyama was there before telling anyone, “Why is there blood on your shirt?”

                “I’m sorry,” Kageyama mumbled, looking like he was about to collapse. Hinata didn’t think it was from blood loss or anything – there was nowhere near enough on his shirt to indicate that, just a few splotches. The boy just seemed exhausted, and if he’d come over the mountain in this condition, Hinata didn’t blame him. He mumbled something else, but Hinata couldn’t make it out.

                “What?” he asked, “Come Kageyama, try and stay awake for a little bit – I need to know what’s happening,”

                “She broke your phone...” the boy garbled, slumping against the base of Hinata’s bed, adrenaline rapidly wearing off now that he had finally reached Hinata, “Tried to stop her... but, but,” The boy started sniffling, as if he were about to cry, the red rings around his eyes suggesting it wouldn’t be the first time that night.

                “Shh, it’s okay Kageyama,” Hinata tried to reassure him, not wanting him to make too much noise, and starting to feel guilty about keeping him up when he was so clearly on the brink of collapse, “Just, uh, just go to sleep – here,” he offered, grabbing a pillow from his bed, placing it on the floor as Kageyama leant sideways, Hinata gently lowering him to the ground. Kageyama’s eyes shut as soon as his head hit the pillow, mumbling a few unintelligible things before his breathing became shallow as he went to sleep.

                Confident that he wouldn’t wake the boy, after giving him a few testing prods, Hinata gingerly peeled the boy’s shirt up, careful where blood had started to dry, sticking it to the skin. Hinata had to put a hand to his mouth, swallowing back a gasp when he saw a number of new cigarette burns pressed into Kageyama’s side, these ones still raw and angry looking. One in particular looked as if the cigarette had been dragged across the skin, and was weeping sticky liquid.

                Trying to keep quiet, Hinata slipped out of his room again, across the hallway to the bathroom, rummaging around in the cabinets for anything that looked useful. He filled a cup with water as well before sneaking back to his room. Using a cloth dipped in the water, he dabbed gently at the new burns, pulling back whenever Kageyama flinched too hard from the discomfort. After he’d washed away most of the dried blood and sweat, along with the remnants of any ash still sticking around the edges, he grabbed the small tub of burn ointment his mother used whenever she happened to burn herself while cooking (or more likely whenever Hinata did trying to help her). Tentatively applying the ointment generously, he was hesitant to rub it in too much lest it be too painful and Kageyama would wake up.

                Finishing up, he took a few large band aids and stuck them over the area, hoping that would be enough for now. He noticed a few new scratches and bruises as he pulled Kageyama’s shirt back down, but none of them seemed too bad, and there was nothing much he could really do right now, about to fall asleep on his feet himself. Grabbing a sheet from off his bed, he gently threw it over Kageyama, lifting the boy’s head off the pillow gently, and positioning himself in it’s place, stroking Kageyama’s hair lightly as he continued to sleep uninterrupted, head snug in Hinata’s lap. At some point Hinata fell asleep himself, sitting at the base of his bed stroking Kageyama’s hair, surrounded by some discarded medical supplies.

 

                *******

 

                Hinata didn’t wake to the gentle knocking at his door, stirring only when he felt something shaking his shoulder. His eyes fluttered open, looking up to see his father smiling softly at him.

                “I have to say, Natsu is very upset,” his father chuckled slightly, the still groggy Hinata confused by his words, “She wants to know why onii-chan’s friends can sleep over on a school night but hers can’t. As you can imagine I was very confused,” Hinata jolted when he felt Kageyama’s head shuffle slightly in his lap, reminding him that he was there and what had happened the night before.

                “Umm,” Hinata panicked, “I, I can explain,”

                “Mhmm, I more worried about why you seemed to have been playing doctors in the middle of the night,” his father pointed out gravely, nodding towards the still scattered supplies that Hinata had abandoned before falling asleep.

                “What was I supposed to do?” Hinata bit back quietly, not wanting to wake the boy in his lap

                “You could have come and told your mother and I,” his father suggested, picking up the tub of burn ointment he looked at Hinata curiously, “Why burn cream?”

                “F-for the burns... duh,” Hinata replied lamely, his father starting to look a lot more concerned.

                “Burns? What exactly happened?” he asked looking down at the boy, only now noticing the dried blood stains on his shirt, “I take it this is, um, Kageyama?” Hinata nodded weakly, “Do his parents know where he is?”

                “No!” Hinata cried, flinching when Kageyama turned in his sleep, “No, don’t tell them,” he pleaded quietly. Hinata’s father seemed to be quickly realising the position his son was in.

                “May I?” he asked, touching the hem of Kageyama’s shirt. Hinata nodded hesitantly, his father lifting up the shirt to see Hinata’s handiwork. Noticing the other, older burns he looked back at Hinata, “This isn’t the first time, is it?” Hinata shook his head mournfully.

                “It’s all my fault,” Hinata whimpered, feeling tears starting to prick the back of his eyes.

                “What, of course it isn’t,” his father reassured him, placing his hand on his son’s shoulder comfortingly, “Why would you say that?”

                “Because it’s true, they only did it ‘cause they found out about me,” Hinata sniffled. His father just looked at him with sympathy, rubbing his shoulder.

                “Onii-chan!” Natsu called from his open doorway, oblivious to how loud she was being, “Mum says you have to come downstairs now – hehe you’re in trouble,” she giggled mischievously.

                “Don’t worry,” his father reassured him when Hinata looked panic-stricken, “I’ll go down and talk to her. You just stay here, see if you can wake him up and maybe come down to breakfast when you’re ready. It’s still early, so school’s not for a while, even though it’s probably to late to go to your volleyball practice,”

                Hinata just nodded in understanding, gently trying to rouse Kageyama as his father left, closing the door behind him and distracting Natsu as he went downstairs to go talk to his wife.

                “Kageyama,” Hinata whispered, shaking the boy gently, not wanting to irritate any of his injuries, “Wake up Bakageyama, we gotta go have breakfast,” When even the promise of food wouldn’t rouse the boy, Hinata decided to give up, deciding he didn’t look as scowly when he was asleep anyway, leaning down and kissing him on the forehead. Kageyama stirred once Hinata’s lips pressed against his skin, eyes fluttering open to look up at Hinata over him.

                “Good morning, Kageyama,” Hinata greeted him with a smile, the boy blushing profusely, Hinata enjoying the moment before the boy could remember why he was waking up in Hinata’s lap.


	34. Why Does He Need New Clothes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> This is it, the penultimate chapter! Next chapter will be the last (maybe, see below) and will also probably be long, probably even longer than this one. So because it's the grand finale (and because I am really busy this week) I plan to take a few days, probably posting it on Thursday/Friday. It'll feature a dramatic confrontation and help from a surprising (not that surprising) source!
> 
> Also, I was wondering if you wanted a sexy times epilogue? I've asked one or two people and they seemed somewhat interested in the idea, so tell me what you think either in the comments or message me on tumblr :)
> 
> Thank you for all the support on this fic (It's like five off 5k hits right now !!\\(0o0)/!! ),
> 
> nightshade

                Once Kageyama had realised where he was and why he was there he started to panic. He sat up too fast, wincing as the skin on his sides stretched with the movement, reminding him of the previous night’s injuries.

                “Hinata,” he gasped quietly, “Your parents-“

                “Uhm,” Hinata interrupted sheepishly, “They want to talk to you, mostly my mum I think,”

                “They know I’m here?” Kageyama asked, drowsiness fading quickly as he began to panic

                “Yeah, you’re a pretty heavy sleeper,” Hinata commented, before realising that Kageyama was worried about his parents, “Don’t worry – it’s fine, I think,” he reassured the boy, “My dad at least seemed understanding. He said he was gonna go and talk to my mum now...”

                “Won’t they call my parents? I-I don’t...” Kageyama began stuttering fearfully, flinching a little when Hinata put a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down.

                “Don’t worry, I’m sure they won’t if you don’t want them to – especially after what they did,” Hinata explained, pointing shyly at the dried blood splotches on the sides of Kageyama’s thin shirt. “Maybe you should put something else on, uh...” Hinata thought a second, walking over to his wardrobe and looking inside before turning back apologetically, “I don’t think I have anything that’ll fit... Wait here a moment,” he told Kageyama, slipping out of the room.

                Hinata quickly dashed downstairs, waiting awkwardly at the entrance to the dining room where his parents were talking. When they noticed him standing there, they turned to him.

                “Um, Dad,” he asked tentatively, “Can Kageyama borrow one of your old shirts?”

                “What? What does he need a shirt fo-!” Hinata’s mother started crowing scandalously before his father interrupted her,

                “Sure Shou, he can borrow one of my pairs of sweatpants too if he wants,” he offered, Hinata smiling thankfully before rushing back upstairs, leaving his father to explain. He rummaged around the drawers in his parents’ bedroom until he found something that looked like it would fit, slipping back into his room to give them to Kageyama. He found the setter sitting on the edge of his bed, shirt off and touching gingerly at the band aids plastered on to his sides, covering most of his new burns. Hinata tried to force back down the blush that started to bloom on his cheeks, _This is not an appropriate time Shouyou_ , he criticised himself, offering Kageyama the spare clothes.

                “Did you do this?” Kageyama asked in confusion, touching the administrations to his burns.

                “Uh, yeah,” Hinata nodded shyly, wishing Kageyama would just put the damn clothes on already, “You were practically asleep when I did it though, so I suppose you wouldn’t remember,”

                “Um, thanks,” the setter replied meekly, an embarrassed flush tinging the tips of his ears. _Don’t you start too_ , Hinata thought woefully, proffering the clothes forward more aggressively.

                “I’ll be, uh, outside if you need anything,” Hinata explained, dropping the clothes on Kageyama’s lap before stepping outside, “Just come downstairs when you’re done,” he continued before closing the door behind him, waiting a moment until he heard the sounds of Kageyama changing before heading downstairs. He walked back into the dining room where his mother and father were still sitting, Natsu already distracted by cartoons in the living room.

                “And so where is this boy, huh?” his mother asked as soon as he walked into the room, unaccompanied, “Honestly Shouyou, what have you been doing behind our backs?” Hinata looked to his father for help,

                “I thought you said you’d talk to her,” he whispered accusingly, as if his mother couldn’t hear him.

                “I tried to, I can barely get a word in edgewise,” his father hissed back, his mother looking at the two of them with a mixture of irritation and exasperation.

                “I _can_ hear you, you know?” she pointed out, “Now is someone going to tell me why there is some stranger in your room?”

                “He’s not a stranger – he’s Kageyama,” Hinata retorted, realising this might not be as easy as he’d so naively thought it would be, “He’s, um, my friend – my _best_ friend!”

                “That doesn’t mean he can just show up in the middle of the night, unannounced, and stay over!” his mother argued,

                “Dear, it’s a bit more complicat-“

                “Where else was he supposed to go?” Hinata interrupted his father, “Was I supposed to just ignore  him?!”

                “Why was he even here in the first place?” his mother asked, “And while we’re at it – why does he need new clothes? What’s wrong with his old ones?” Are you telling me he showed up naked?... He _didn’t_!”

                “No!” Hinata yelled, not sure why his mother was being so weird about the whole thing – honestly why would _anyone_ be running over mountains in the middle of the night naked?  It was at that point that Hinata heard Kageyama hesitantly coming downstairs, so he turned in his direction.

                “Um,” Kageyama started awkwardly, noticing the boy’s two parents sitting at the table staring at him, “I didn’t know what to do with these,” he continued quietly, tentatively holding out his soiled clothes.

                “Is that _blood_?” Hinata’s mother asked in a horrified tone, Kageyama shuffling behind Hinata a little at the woman’s small outburst, tensing as if ready to run at any moment.

                “Kageyama,” Hinata’s father beckoned to the boy, ignoring his wife’s shock, “Can you come here for a moment? I’d like to take a look at your injuries, just in case they need to redressed,” Kageyama startled, unaware that the man had known about his injuries, having only just met him.

                “It’s okay,” Hinata reassured him, brushing his arm slightly to try and calm him down, “He already saw a little this morning. And, uh, I wanna make sure I didn’t miss anything or do something wrong,” Kageyama hesitantly moved towards the man, tensing as he braced himself for Hinata’s father to lift up the side of his borrowed shirt to look thoughtfully at his son’s handiwork.

                “Do you mind if I...?” the man asked, touching the edge of one of the many band aids, waiting for Kageyama to nod nervously before he peeled it off, slowly so as not to disturb the raw-looking blisters too much. Both Hinata’s father and mother gasped when they saw what was underneath, Hinata grimacing when he walked over to look as well. Although he’d seen them the night before, they’d become a lot uglier over night.

                “Are, um, are these cigarette burns?” Hinata’s father asked cautiously, Kageyama nodding silently, not trusting his voice. Hinata felt his stomach turn, he’d suspected that’s what they were, but Kageyama had never actually said, knowing for certain though was still enough to make him queasy as he couldn’t help but imagine someone holding a cigarette into Kageyama’s skin.

                “Oh my god,” Hinata’s mother gasped, “How did- Have you called your parents?” she asked with concern, reaching for her phone.

                “That’s probably not the best idea, love,” her husband said as he grabbed her hand to stop her, confusion passing over her face for a moment before the sad realisation hit her.

                “Oh...” she muttered sadly, understanding now why her son was so distressed over the boy, “Oh...” She went a busied herself quietly in the kitchen, making breakfast, while Hinata’s father began looking over Kageyama’s injuries, reapplying the burn ointment Hinata fetched from his bedroom floor before bandaging the boy’s torso properly while Hinata held Kageyama’s hand, gently squeezing it whenever he winced in pain.

                “Maybe wait a little bit before you tell your mother about you two,” Hinata’s father suggested in a hushed voice so his wife wouldn’t hear, nodding towards their clasped hands, “She’ll be fine with it when you do, I just think it might be a bit much for her to take in on top of everything else,” Hinata nodded in agreement while Kageyama just blushed profusely, almost letting go of Hinata’s hand until his father accidentally bumped one of the fresh blisters, causing him to grip on again. He still wasn’t used to the idea of someone – especially an adult – knowing about his relationship with Hinata.

                When his mother came back with breakfast, the five of them sat down at the table to eat. Hinata sat next to Kageyama, still loosely holding hands under the table, while Hinata’s mother sat quietly eating her food, still quite sombre and trying to process everything that had happened in the past hour. His father on the other hand tried to lighten the mood as much as he could, occasionally joking with Hinata, as well as Natsu who spent most of the meal looking at Kageyama with a mixture of fear and curiosity. The one time that he dared to meet her gaze she just flashed him a smile and waved before going back to eating her food, flustering the boy much to Hinata’s amusement.

                After the meal, and after Natsu had left for school, the two boys and Hinata’s parents sat back down at the table and discussed what to do. Or rather Hinata and his father discussed, while his mother and Kageyama sat back relatively silent for their own respective reasons. They agreed that Kageyama obviously couldn’t go to school that day, but Hinata wanted to stay at home with him. It was his mother mostly who was against it, eventually relenting to her husband and son however. The two did plan on going in to school for the afternoon practice, not to play, but just to let Sugawara know what was going on as well as to pick up the few things Kageyama had at school (mostly a spare set of gym clothes and shoes for him to wear).

                Kageyama ended up napping again during the day, still tired from the previous nights events, and Hinata ended up joining him, his father eventually finding them snuggled up on Hinata’s bed together when he went up to tell them that he had to go back to Tokyo for work. He roused Hinata and told the groggy boy where he was going before letting him go back to sleep, closing the door behind him and telling his wife they were sleeping so that she wouldn’t disturb them and ask why two ‘friends’ were spooning in bed.


	35. I'm Sure We'll Figure Something Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> This is it, the big 4.5k+ word finale! Are you excited! I am! I am so unbelievably excited that I actually finished this! And people liked it! And I am EXCITED!!!
> 
> Thank you for all of the amazing support, everyone who has commented, given kudos, who even just took the time to read this fic - thank you,
> 
> nightshade

                Kageyama got out of the car, waiting awkwardly for Hinata to finish talking to his mother and join him. He turned when he heard the thud of the car door, Hinata giving a small wave to his mother before she drove off, leaving the two at the school gates. Normally Hinata would have just cycled like usual, but Kageyama wasn’t in any condition for biking over a mountain and back, so Hinata’s mother agreed to drop them off, planning on picking them back up once practice was over. Despite Kageyama’s complaints, Hinata insisted he wasn’t allowed to play, or do drills, or even stretch – they were just going to sit on the sidelines and watch until his mother showed up. It was only when Hinata promised he would sit with him that the setter conceded, albeit reluctantly.

                They had arrived a little early, the final bell only ringing now as they walked across the school grounds towards the gym. Hinata felt a little weird wearing casual clothes at school, rather than his normal uniform, and wanted to get to the gym before too many students came past, worried they would think that they had skipped school. The gym was already unlocked when they got there, Coach Ukai already starting to pull out the carts of volleyballs for practice. Hinata held Kageyama back, figuring it would be better if they wait for the others to show up before going in.

                Standing outside the gym doors, Kageyama looked at his feet, scuffing his borrowed shoes in the dirt a little before realising he probably shouldn’t. He turned to wringing his hands nervously, starting to put Hinata on edge. Hinata grabbed Kageyama’s hands in one of his, rubbing his thumb reassuringly over the setter’s,

                “It’s gonna be okay, Kageyama,” Hinata reassured him, “I’m sure we’ll figure something out,” Although he tried to sound positive, inside Hinata was not feeling so optimistic. It hadn’t really come up during their talk with his parents earlier today, but he felt pretty sure Kageyama couldn’t stay at his house forever – even his father wasn’t _that_ chill. There’d probably be all kinds of adult problems, and they’d probably make Kageyama tell them everything that happened. He wouldn’t get sent back would he? Hinata hoped desperately that Kageyama wouldn’t ever have to go back home again, wouldn’t even have to see those horrible people, but he wasn’t sure he could promise that.

                Daichi was the first to come down from the club room, already changed into his volleyball gear, he found the two boys standing idly outside the open gym doors, out of uniform. It took a second for his eyes to notice Hinata still holding Kageyama’s hands protectively, snapping back to the boys’ faces so as not to seem like he was staring.

                “Hinata, Kageyama, what are you doing here?” he asked, “You weren’t at practice this morning – I take it you didn’t go to class either by the looks of you,”

                “Oh, um, good afternoon captain,” Hinata greeted lamely, Daichi noticing as he tried to subtly drop Kageyama’s hands before he could notice, “Um, is Sugawara-san coming soon?” he asked sheepishly, not wanting to seem rude but Sugawara was the only one who actually knew half of what was going on.

                “Suga should be here any minute,” Daichi informed them, the sounds of the rest of the team could already be heard leaving the club room, “But as your captain I must say, I’m concerned about you skipping classes. If your caught ditching school you might not be allowed to play-“

                “It’s okay Sawamura-san,” Hinata clarified, “We weren’t ditching, my parents know,”

                “Are you ill?” Daichi asked in a confused voice as the rest of the team showed up and began filing into the gym, looking oddly at the two first years talking to the captain, wondering what was going on.

                “Hinata! Kageyama!” Sugawara cried in relief as he rushed over after seeing the two. He wrapped an arm around each one of their necks, pulling them into his embrace, “I was so worried when neither of you showed up for practice, or school. You weren’t responding when I tried to call you – what happened?”

                “Um, maybe we should talk in private,” Hinata suggested quietly as the others gathered around the door, drawn by the vice-captains outburst if they weren’t already hanging back out of curiosity. Sugawara agreed and began to lead them back towards the club room when a small commotion could be heard back towards the gym. They turned around to see what was happening, Hinata stiffening and Kageyama blanching when they saw Kageyama’s parents standing at the gym doors talking angrily to Daichi.

                When the confused captain pointed in their direction, they turned to see the trio and began marching over, Kageyama’s father in front storming forth aggressively while his mother was just a few steps behind.

               “They’re Kageyama’s parents,” Hinata managed to stammer in explanation to Sugawara before they reached them, eyes widening when he looked back at the two.

                “There you are!” Kageyama’s father yelled, “Come with me, you’re coming home right now!” The stocky man reached out to grab Kageyama’s arm, prepared to drag him along if need be, when Hinata stepped between him and the petrified boy.

                “You! Get out of my way, you little-“ he started to threaten, quieting a little when he noticed that the rest of the team had come outside to see what all the noise was about. “Tobio is coming home – now.” he stated sternly, reaching to grab his son again.

                “No!” Hinata yelled, “You’re not taking him!” Kageyama shrunk back away from his parents as Hinata stood between them, trying to appear as confident as he could despite being terrified inside. This was the man who’d done all those terrible things to Kageyama, and he was a grown adult – if he wanted to, he could do the same to Hinata. _Fine!_ Hinata thought defiantly, _He can do what he wants – I’m not letting him hurt Kageyama!_

                “Hinata,” Daichi interrupted, “I don’t know what’s going on here, but these are Kageyama’s parents. I warned you that skipping school would-“

               “Shut up Daichi,” Sugawara spat, standing next to Hinata, blocking Kageyama from his parents as he still stood there, terrified of what would happen if they managed to take him home, but not wanting Hinata to get hurt because of him. “I’m not going to let you have Kageyama either,” he declared to the boy’s parents.

                “Look here you little upstart,” Kageyama’s mother stepped forward, “That’s my son, and if I say he’s coming home – he’s coming home,” The woman side-stepped Sugawara and made a grab for Kageyama, managing to get a grip in his wrist and pulling him forward, out from behind Hinata.

                “No, I won’t let you!” Hinata yelled, grabbing hold of the woman’s arm, trying to wrench her off of Kageyama.

                “Get your hands of my wife,” Kageyama’s father growled threateningly, pushing Hinata back, toppling him onto the ground, “Now you, come with me,” he said, grabbing his son from his wife, pulling him away from the boys as he started sobbing.

                “No, I’m sorry, please,” he started begging desperately, reaching out to Hinata with his other hand as the boy scrambled to his feet to give chase. The two started walking back to the school gates as Hinata and Sugawara tried to go after them, not getting far until they ran into the rest of the volleyball team. Daichi, Tanaka, Nishinoya, even Asahi and Tsukishima, stood barring their way.

                “I’m sorry, but if Kageyama doesn’t want to leave with you, then I won’t let you take him,” Daichi announced in an authoritative voice, hoping he was doing the right thing.

                “Just who do you think you are?” Kageyama’s father asked, prodding Daichi in the chest with his free hand while Kageyama struggled to break free from his iron grip, “Tobio’s my son – I know what’s best for him, and I don’t want him playing around with some disgusting degenerate so I’m taking him home,”

                “You’re horrible parents!” Hinata cried out after him as he made to push his way past the wall of high-schoolers, making the man turn around indignantly.

                “Really?” he scoffed, “At least I’m not gonna let my son end up some perverted faggot, running around town touchin’ kids and doing God knows what other disgusting things!” The rest of the team flinched at the man’s words, if they didn’t already dislike the man, they did now. Sugawara moved forward to make some kind of retort to defend Hinata, but the smaller boy beat him to it.

                “At least my parents don’t tell me I’m a disgusting freak! At least they don’t beat me up just because the person I like is a boy! At least they don’t hold me down and burn me with cigarettes until I do what they want!” he screamed at them, a few tears starting to trickle down his face in both sadness and anger. How dare these people try and say they cared for Kageyama when they did things like that. He cared for Kageyama more than they ever had.

                The rest of the team was set murmuring among themselves, intent shifting from defensive to openly hostile towards Kageyama’s parents. Even Sugawara looked aghast, not having known about the cigarettes. Kageyama’s father was no doubt about to spit back some new string of profanities when he felt the hand holding onto his son suddenly get attacked by a vice-like grip.

                “I think you should leave. Now.” Daichi said in a monotone voice, squeezing his grip harder and forcing the man to let go of Kageyama. Looking around to see the rest of the team looking at the two of them with murderous glares, Kageyama’s father ended up pushing through the wall of students, leaving Kageyama collapsed in a pile on the ground, his wife dashing after him.

                Hinata ran forward to Kageyama, embracing him and stroking his hair, cooing that it was over now, and that he was safe. The two were oblivious to the rest of the team, Kageyama still to shocked and terrified to do much more than whimper and Hinata focused solely on making sure Kageyama was alright. Their team mates looked at the two, faces flashing mixes of uncomfortable, sympathetic, shock, malice towards the boy’s parents. Daichi ushered everyone into the gym, leaving Sugawara to lead the two embracing first years in after them once they had calmed down.

                Practice was obviously a shambles, Coach Ukai calling an end to it after fifteen minutes when no one seemed able to concentrate or remain cool-headed, the team circling anxiously around Hinata, Kageyama and Sugawara, keeping their distance but looking on with both curiosity and concern.

                Hinata sat next to Kageyama, one arm still around him, rubbing him comfortingly, while Sugawara sat on the other side, also trying to act reassuringly. Kageyama kept looking up every now and again, peering cautiously over his knees from where he sat with his legs tucked up against his chest, head down. He saw they others, looking at Hinata and himself, hiding his face again, wishing that they would leave, still desperately wishing that they wouldn’t have to know anything, despite knowing it was already too late for that.

                Eventually it was Daichi who stepped forward, addressing Sugawara first,

                “Um, Suga, this is clearly a sensitive subject, but,” he turned back to look at the rest of the team still waiting anxiously before continuing, “We’re all understandably worried about what happened. We just want to help, but...”

                “Well, it’s not my place to say Daichi,” Sugawara answered, turning to Kageyama who still had his face buried in his arms, “What do you want to do Kageyama? You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, but do you want to tell them?”

                “No,” Kageyama whispered, shaking his head fervently before reminding the both of them, “You promised you wouldn’t tell,”

                “Kageyama,” Hinata said warmly, “I think you need to tell them what’s going on. They’re worried about you,”

                “They hated me,” Kageyama countered quietly, both Daichi and Sugawara turning away guiltily at the boy’s words

                “If they hated you, why would they have helped you today?” Hinata argued reassuringly, “Trust me Kageyama, no one here will hate you – I can tell them if that’s easier,” Kageyama looked up at Hinata through puffy eyes, searching for some sign in his face that he was lying or making it all up, but the boy just smiled sadly at him, grabbing one of his hands snugly, at squeezing it in reassurance.

                “Y-you tell th-them,” he stuttered eventually, so quietly that Hinata almost didn’t hear him. He gave Kageyama a broad smile, before helping the boy stand up, the both of them, along with Daichi and Sugawara, walking over to where the team had gathered together to explain.

                When Hinata told the team that they were dating each other, Kageyama scrunched his eyes shut, not willing to look at everyone’s faces, only tentatively opening them when he felt Hinata grab his hand again, holding it firmly in his, reassuring him just with his touch. The rest of the team seemed to accept the news, Nishinoya looking particularly remorseful, before Hinata continued explaining about Kageyama’s parents and how they’d tried to force him to stop seeing Hinata. Even Sugawara was listening intently when he recounted the events of the previous night, of Kageyama showing up on his doorstep in the middle of the night on the brink of collapse, shirt stained with blood and shivering in the cold. And how now, Kageyama was staying at Hinata’s house until they could figure out what to do next.

                Once Hinata had finished, Kageyama just stood silently behind him, unsure of how the team would respond. The atmosphere had become quite heavy, the group of boys processing Hinata’s tale, thinking back over the past few weeks. Eventually it became late and Hinata knew he and Kageyama would have to go soon. The rest of the team walked by in twos or threes, offering apologies for their past actions, sympathising with the two and offering to help anyway they could, or just giving them a watery smile, unsure of what to do with themselves.

                The two boys wondered out to the school gates where Hinata’s mother was already waiting to pick them up. Hinata noticed Kageyama was rubbing his wrist absently, the spot where his father had grabbed him already starting to bruise. Taking Kageyama’s hand so he couldn’t touch his wrist anymore, Hinata led him over to the car, both getting in the back seat together and riding home in a comfortable silence, tired and wanting nothing more than for everything to be over with.

 

                *******

 

                Kageyama stayed at Hinata’s house for the weekend, thankful that there was no sign of his parents showing up anytime soon, even though Hinata continued to remind him that his parents didn’t even know where they lived. Hinata’s mother redressed Kageyama’s bandages each morning, grimacing while she did so and muttering about how a parent could d such a thing to their child.

                Perhaps the only thing of note was that they were not able to keep their relationship secret from Hinata’s mother for long without his father running interference. Although Kageyama was quite concerned about it, Hinata believed what his father had assured him of when he went downstairs Sunday morning after his mother had walked in on the two spooning in bed while soundly asleep, Hinata’s arm draped protectively over the taller boy.

                When he returned upstairs to the anxiously waiting Kageyama, he explained that his mother seemed more upset that he had told his father before her rather than the fact that they were together. Kageyama would have to sleep in the living room from now on though. When Natsu found the two boys setting up a futon in the living room, she insisted that she sleep there too, thinking it would be fun, her mother eventually reluctantly allowing the three of them to set up for the night in the living room, on the condition that they all be asleep by ten for school tomorrow.

                At Natsu’s encouragement (as well as Hinata’s), they set up a small fort with blankets and extra pillows, watching various animated children’s movies with the lights out. Hinata sat next to Kageyama, half lying down as he looked up at Kageyama’s face, just as rapt as the little girl sitting next to him. He tentatively tugged the sleeve of Kageyama’s borrowed night shirt, intertwining his fingers with Kageyama’s when he moved his hand in response. Kageyama looked down at him, face flushed before trying to pay attention to the movie again, worried about Natsu seeing.

                “Kageyama-kun, were you holding Nii-chan’s hand?” the little girl asked with a small yawn when she looked over to the two during the credits of the movie, noticing as Hinata had to get up to put in a new DVD. Kageyama blushed at being caught red-handed, beginning to stammer some excuse,

                “No fair! I wanna hold hands too,” she declared, eagerly taking the boy’s other hand in hers, holding it up to her face to gawk at how much bigger it was compared to her own, “Your hand’s so big!” she exclaimed, giggling at the apparent absurdity of such large hands before letting them fall to her side as her older brother took the other hand back as the new movie began to start. Kageyama was the last one awake, trying not to move as the siblings slept either side of him, both still holding his hand loosely and unsure of how to extricate himself without waking them up.

 

                *******

                Monday morning arrived and Kageyama and Hinata reluctantly got ready for school. Sugawara had grabbed Kageyama’s spare clothes from the club room for them, so Kageyama at least had a uniform, but not much else and it was starting to get to be a problem they would have to face soon. But for now, they were concerned enough with showing up for practice on Monday morning after what had happened before the weekend, wondering how the team would behave now that the truth was out. Kageyama was still a little concerned that they would reject him again, despite Hinata’s continued assurances. The first face they saw when showing up however, was Takeda-sensei.

                “Kageyama-kun, if I could have a minute?” he asked, an odd look on his face. Kageyama nodded awkwardly, following when the teacher went into the gym, Hinata tailing after him. Inside the door, they found a pile of about half a dozen boxes of varying sizes.

                “What is all this?” Hinata asked when he saw the random assortment of boxes clogging up the entryway.

                “I was hoping you could tell me,” Takeda-sensei said ominously, looking pointedly at Kageyama, “I found it all at the school gates this morning, with this,” he explained, handing a sheet of paper to the boy, “I brought it all in here as soon as I could. I don’t think anyone else saw, but I’d like an explanation,”

                Hinata grabbed the note from Kageyama after he appeared to be done reading it, not saying anything, just staring strangely at the pile of boxes. Skimming the writing (much of which was just derogatory expletives), Hinata gathered it was Kageyama’s belongings, noting the final words, ‘ _Don’t bother coming back._ ’

                “Kageyama,” Hinata tried to comfort the boy, rubbing his shoulder sympathetically. Even though he was glad that his parents wouldn’t be coming after him anymore, he could still tell that Kageyama was feeling bad.

                “Kageyama-kun,” Takeda-sensei cleared his throat, reminding the two boys he was there, “While I think I can gather the gist of what might be happening here, I’m going to need a proper explanation. I can’t just ignore what appears to be a student getting kicked out of home,”

                “I-It’s okay though,” Hinata tried to explain, “He’s staying at my house now, and, um, we’ll figure something out, so it’s fine, right?”

                “It’s a bit more complicated than that Hinata,” Takeda-sensei sighed, “Kageyama’s underage, he can’t just live by himself. Besides, I’m required to inform the authorities,” he looked regretfully at Hinata’s pleading face, before looking to Kageyama who’d begun absently running his hands over the boxes, opening one to begin going through the contents. “Look, I can maybe... hold off, for a few days. But I’m going to have to report this eventually. If you can maybe figure something else out by then, it might not be a problem. Perhaps if you can find one of Kageyama’s relatives that might be willing to take him in or something?”

                Hinata thankfully took the teacher’s offer, despite doubting that any of Kageyama’s relatives would be willing to take him in after his parent’s had already kicked him out. He also had to inevitably explain to the rest of the team why there was a pile of Kageyama’s stuff just sitting in the gym.

                “Why don’t you just live here?” Nishinoya suggested, trying to be helpful, “I mean, your stuff’s already here,”

                “And you could practice volleyball whenever you wanted,” Tanaka added enthusiastically.

                “Yeah, yeah! And you could just sleep in the storage closet – and shower in the sports showers,” Nishinoya continued, feeling proud of himself for his brilliant idea before Tsukishima began snorting behind them as he struggled to contain his laughter.

                “Um, I don’t think it works like that Nishinoya,” Sugawara tried to explain kindly, “But, uh, good effort,”

                “It’s okay Nishinoya-san,” Hinata reassured the deflated looking libero, “I’m sure we’ll think of something,” He tried his best to sound optimistic, but couldn’t help but appear doubtful as he looked sadly at Kageyama still going through the boxes of stuff, looking like he had just become numb to the entire affair, the idea of not having a home to go back to still sinking in.

                They left Kageyama’s belongings there, trying to push them back against the wall to give as much room as possible so that they could still practice. Kageyama seemed to liven up a little, playing volleyball with Hinata and the rest of the team again, although his tosses were still lacking his typical energy. Most of the team spent the rest of the day stuck in their heads, trying to think of ways to help their abandoned team mate. Hinata assured Kageyama multiple times that he would be able to stay at his house for as long as need be, although he wasn’t sure if that was true. _They can’t just kick him out though_ , Hinata thought, still unable to find a solution, _They’ll have to let him stay with us, right?_

                The next day passed much the same, although this time at least Kageyama had been able to sleep in his own clothes and have his own things, having taken a few essentials home with him from the boxes in the gym. That afternoon however, Sugawara approached Hinata and Kageyama, smiling so hard it looked like his face was about to burst open from happiness.

                “Kageyama, could you come with me?” he asked, “I think I might have a solution to your problem,” Kageyama and Hinata followed the vice captain out of the gym, curious as to what the boy wanted, Hinata silently optimistic that his senpai had discovered some way for Kageyama to be alright. He ended up leading him to a man and a woman standing patiently just inside the school gates.

                The man was a somewhat average looking guy, black hair, thin-rimmed glasses, but with a mouth that looked as if it were constantly set as a gentle smile. The woman on the other hand was beautiful, perhaps even more so than Kiyoko, with long platinum blonde hair reaching halfway down her back and striking blue eyes. She looked a little bored at first, but upon seeing the approaching boys she smiled confidently and waved to them in greeting.

                “You must be Kageyama-kun?” the woman greeted warmly, offering her delicate looking hand to the boy, shaking it much more firmly than he expected when he extended his own.

                “And I take it you’re Hinata-kun then,” the man asked jovially, shaking Hinata’s hand as well.

                “Um, yes?” Hinata confirmed shyly, looking to Sugawara questioningly.

                “Oh how rude of us,” the woman apologised, “My name is Sugawara Rose, and this is my husband Sugawara Takoyuki,” she explained, the two boys looking towards Sugawara for confirmation, “We’re Koushi’s parents,” Sugawara walked forward to stand next to his mother, while his father stepped forward.

                “Koushi told us about what happened with your parents and, well, about how dreadful he feels about how he treated you...” he started awkwardly, not sure how to approach the topic, but still trying to seem lighthearted.

                “I-it’s okay,” Kageyama stuttered, “I, um, I already forgave him for that, I guess... He apologised a lot,” Kageyama fumbled awkwardly, feeling like even though Sugawara’s actions had really hurt him, and still did, even he couldn’t deny that the third year had done as much as he could to try and repent for his mistreatment of Kageyama.

                “Well, we thought maybe we could help too,” Sugawara’s mother said, “Koushi told us how much he wanted to help, and after hearing about everything we wanted to do something too,” Kageyama and Hinata looked confused, neither exactly sure what they were proposing.

                “I’m guessing you probably don’t have any family willing to take you in, judging from what Koushi said,” his father inquired, Kageyama shaking his head slightly, embarrassed that these adults who he didn’t even know seemed to be so informed about the whole thing. “Well, we were wondering if we could adopt you?” he asked, Kageyama baulking, and Hinata looking at the smiling Sugawara in confused shock. “It need only be a legal formality, you could take yourself off the family register once your of age, if you wanted,” the man clarified.

                “This way you could live with us until you’re able to live on your own,” Sugawara’s mother reasoned, “We have a spare room, and besides, Koushi will be leaving at the end of the year for university anyways, so we have more than enough room for you,”

                Kageyama looked between the two smiling adults, unsure if he could trust these strangers’ promises, but looking at the smiling Sugawara he couldn’t help but feel like maybe they were telling the truth. Hinata suddenly lunged at his side, almost toppling him as he gripped on for dear life.

                “Kageyama!” he cried, voice muffled into his chest, “Isn’t this great?” he asked looking up at the boy, noticing tears start to form in his eyes as he looked back and forth between the boy grabbing his torso, Sugawara and his two parents. He was overwhelmed by the sense of caring and relief, all his concerns were thrown to the wind as he started crying, optimistic that maybe things might work out. Hopefully the Sugawaras were right, and this would be enough that when Takeda-sensei was forced to report the situation, nothing would have to happen, he could just stay with these people- stay with Hinata – free of his parents, and maybe even free of all these horrible feelings. Even if it wouldn’t be that easy, as he pulled Hinata into his own embrace, he thought that he didn’t care, as long as he could stay like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a few things to address:  
> \- There will be an epilogue chapter, I will probably tack it on to the end of this fic as an additional chapter. It will be set after some time has passed, it will carry an explicit rating (for all you thirsty people out there), and for the first time it will be from Kageyama's POV!
> 
> \- I will be writing a companion story to this, following Sugawara. I will make it a part of a series with this (I also have ideas for other fics to join this as well, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it)
> 
> \- It will be updated, starting this Sunday, according to my newly devised update schedule (http://nightshade--19.tumblr.com/post/148831279412/) - for those who don't care about my other fics, all you need to know is this will be updated Sundays and Wednesdays
> 
> \- Come talk to me on tumblr <3 (http://nightshade--19.tumblr.com/)


	36. "Epilogue"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> So this is the "epilogue" I promised ; )  
> This isn't really any plot, just "plot", so if you're not interested in that, don't worry you can just not read this.  
> If you haven't already figured out from all the quotation marks, this is effectively just smut - HinaKage smut! It is explicit, so... warning? I guess?  
> If you don't like it, that's fine. I just figured it would be a fun thing to do, and a few people seemed interested. It is quite possible I am terrible at writing smut as well, so apologies in advance if that is the case.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> nightshade

                Yesterday had been a bit of an emotional day. They’d finished their second year, and they’d had to say goodbye to all their senpais. Tanaka had cried. Nishinoya had been speaking as fast as he could, trying to impart as much “senpai wisdom” as he could to Hinata before he left, although Kageyama wasn’t really sure if he’d managed to make any of it out. Hinata himself was practically a nervous wreck, not only because he’d had to farewell all his senpai, but now with Ennoshita gone he was officially the team’s captain.

                Kageyama smiled to himself as he remembered when Ennoshita had announced who would be taking over. Hinata couldn’t believe it, thinking at first maybe he’d misheard or misunderstood. Afterwards, once it had sunk in, he’d admitted to Kageyama he was a little sad he wouldn’t be his vice captain, but Yamaguchi would be good in the position. Besides, Kageyama didn’t really want to be vice captain, or captain either for that matter, he was just happy for Hinata.

                Today was a Saturday, the both of them were just lazing around in Kageyama’s bedroom, enjoying the first day of their holidays. The Sugawaras had gone into Tokyo to visit their son at his university, taking advantage of the school holidays and leaving Kageyama with the house to himself for a few days. They were really nice people, even if their work left them out of the house a lot. Kageyama was glad they had been willing to take him in, put up with him for the past year and a half. Even though they’d said he could take himself off their family register once he was of age, he didn’t feel like he would. These two people had been more parents to him in this short time than his biological parents had ever been.

                Hinata, whose Kageyama can tell is starting to get restless just lying around, starts creeping up from where he’s been star-fished at the foot of the bed until now, until he’s lying next to Kageyama, head propped up in one hand.

                “Hey,” he greets flirtatiously, wiggling his eyebrows and causing Kageyama to blush. He hates how easy it is for Hinata to make him blush. Even if it’s just as easy to get the same response himself, it never quite feels like he’s the one who won. Apparently this is just a competition which he’ll never win, but he thinks maybe he’s okay with that.

                “Hey,” Kageyama replies lamely, almost not realising when Hinata leans down to kiss him slowly on the lips. Kageyama just sighs inwardly, letting it happen. He’s come to enjoy this, even though at first he always felt awkward and bad whenever it happened, as if he wasn’t good enough for Hinata to kiss. Sometimes he still does, but Hinata just keeps kissing him, telling him that he’s the only one he wants to kiss.

                It starts of chaste as first, Hinata’s soft lips, gently pressed against Kageyama’s own, an almost imperceptible layer of moisture from where Hinata must have licked his lips beforehand. Soon Hinata’s lips become more pliant, actively tugging on Kageyama’s own, opening slightly every now and again with a sigh. Once he’s almost nibbling on Kageyama’s lower lip, sucking it in every now and again as if trying to make them plumper and darker than they already are, Kageyama can feel a tingling heat spreading from his lips and wherever Hinata’s body happens to be brushing against his.

                Hinata suddenly pulls away, Kageyama barely managing to silence a whine, never wanting to stop tasting the boy’s perfect lips. When he opens his eyes to see what’s happening he sees Hinata sitting up on the edge of the bed, facing away from him. Concerned, he shuffles to the edge of the bed as well, poking the boy’s arm to get him to look him in the eye.

                “What’s wrong?” Kageyama asks, concerned. Was it not as good for Hinata? Did he do something wrong?

                “Nothing, um, nothing was wrong,” Hinata tries to laugh awkwardly, “That was, uh, kind of the problem,” he explains, shifting his legs awkwardly to try and conceal his crotch. Kageyama’s eyes widen a little in understanding, red blooming across his entire face if it wasn’t already. Hinata wanted more.

                They’d tried to do more before, but Kageyama always stopped things. No matter how much he liked Hinata, and how much Hinata tried to reassure him that those feelings were mutual... it was still hard. He always felt so guilty afterwards, he couldn’t give Hinata what he wanted. He should just leave him for someone else, someone who’d make him happy. It didn’t matter if Hinata claimed it wasn’t a big deal, he could tell that it was – that Hinata wanted it. He wanted it too, he was just worried that, despite all his assurances, Hinata wouldn’t want him when it came down to it.

                “W-we can keep going – i-if you want,” Kageyama mumbled anxiously. Hinata looked at him with a smile on his face, making Kageyama feel even guiltier.

                “It’s okay, we don’t have to. We can just go watch a movie or something,” Hinata suggested, standing to go, stopped when he felt Kageyama tugging on the hem of his shirt.

                “I-I want to,” Kageyama whispered, almost inaudibly, but Hinata still apparently heard him, turning around to look at him more seriously.

                “Really, because I told you, we can wait as long as you want-“

                “I want to,” Kageyama stammered a bit more boldly, clenching his eyes shut in embarrassment. He opened them in surprise a moment later when he felt Hinata’s lips against his again.

                “If you want to stop, just say so, okay?” Hinata cautioned him, smiling gently at him. Kageyama just nodded, not prepared for when Hinata suddenly hooked his legs over Kageyama’s thighs, settling in his lap. Hinata’s arms held himself up against Kageyama, embracing him loosely as he looked down from his slightly elevated position into Kageyama’s eyes mischievously. He leaned down and began kissing Kageyama again, all chastity gone this time as his lips quickly parted, allowing his tongue to lap at Kageyama’s lip.

                Letting his own hands settle on the small of Hinata’s back, stabilising his position, he tentatively opened his mouth slightly, not sure what to expect. He inhaled sharply through his nose when he first felt Hinata’s tongue dip down into his mouth, the feeling odd and awkward, but not altogether unpleasant. Mostly he could taste Hinata, even more than just when they kissed on the lips. It was his favourite flavour in the whole world, but then again, Hinata seemed to end up being his favourite everything.

                He didn’t even realise that he’d begun to moan slightly as Hinata’s tongue continued to explore his mouth, only retreating occasionally so that Hinata could gasp in a breath of air. Whenever he did a bit of their intermingled saliva would trickle over his lips, he could feel a small drip of it running down his chin, for some reason stirring at the growing warmth in the pit of his stomach. Deciding he wanted to initiate something for once, Kageyama pulled away from Hinata’s kiss, the boy looking down at him with worry for a moment.

                “Umm,” Kageyama rasped, voice already throaty from their activities up until now, “Can, uh, can I take this off?” he asked, one of his hands rubbing the hem of Hinata’s shirt questioningly. Hinata just nodded eagerly, so Kageyama slowly began drawing the fabric upwards, eventually needing Hinata to finish pulling it off himself when he couldn’t get it past his arms. Kageyama looked in awe at Hinata’s exposed chest, a sight he didn’t get to see anywhere near often enough in his opinion.

                His chest is still somehow pale, and without a tan, despite all the time he spends running around outdoors. His skin seems flawless, torso slender but still showing the muscles earned through hours of volleyball practice almost every day. His eyes catch on Hinata’s nipples, soft pink and already starting to harden a little at the sudden exposure. _They look like little strawberries_ , Kageyama thinks absently, leaning forward and taking one in his mouth without thinking. Hinata yelps in shock, surprised by the sudden action, blush creeping across his face. Suddenly realising what he did, Kageyama pulls off and tries to splutter an apology, only for one of Hinata’s hands to grab a fistful of his hair and push him back against his chest.

                Taking it as a sign to continue, Kageyama takes the nipple back in his mouth, the little nub hardening even more as he rolls his tongue around it, prodding it, circling around it with the tip. If the muffled moans coming from above are any indication, Hinata seems to be enjoying it. He tentatively begins to suck harder, suckling the nipple as if trying to draw milk. One of his hands starts creeping up the planes of Hinata’s torso to the neglected nipple on the other side, pinching it softly and rubbing it, making it just as hard and flushed as the one under his mouth. The hand in his hair keeps pushing him closer, as if trying to get more and more, Kageyama happily trying to give it what it wants.

                Suddenly he can feel both of Hinata’s hands sweeping slowly down his back, reaching the hem of his own shirt and pulling it upwards. He pops off of Hinata’s nipple just long enough for the boy to pull his shirt of, throwing it somewhere in the room. He looks momentarily at his handiwork, the once pale pink patch now with a dark flush, firm and swollen. The pleasure in Kageyama’s pants twitches eagerly at the sight, as he thinks it’s probably the most seductive thing he’s ever seen before he latches onto the other nipple this time, resuming his suckling, wanting to hear Hinata moan again.

                He can feel Hinata’s hands start to explore his body while he carries on sucking. Fingertips gently graze over his own nipples, hardening them in an instant, keen for attention. Hinata’s hands continue to wander however, leaving them almost painfully unattended. Kageyama flinches when his hands reach the scars down his sides. While they healed a long time ago, a number of scars still remain, marring his skin irreparably. It doesn’t hurt when Hinata runs his fingers over them, but he hates it. Hates that they’re there. Hates that Hinata can see them, see him like that.

                “I’m sorry,” Kageyama mumbles, suddenly feeling a welling of sadness as he pulls his mouth off of Hinata’s chest.

                “Do you wanna stop?” Hinata asks reassuringly. This is by far the furthest they’ve ever gone, and it was better than Kageyama ever imagined. But he’s greedy, and selfish and he wants more. He wants all of Hinata. But Hinata doesn’t want all of him.

                “I’m sorry,” he mumbles again, looking up at Hinata this time, “I can’t be pretty like you,” Hinata looks down at Kageyama mournfully, leaning down and giving him a soft kiss on the nose.

                “You’re the most beautiful person I know,” Hinata says softly, the raw honesty in his voice making Kageyama let loose a dry sob, unable to believe that he could be so lucky to have this boy feel the same way about him.

                “I love you,” Kageyama sighs, forehead leaning against Hinata’s chest, Hinata leaning down to kiss the top of his head,

                “I love you too,” he replies, “... Do you want to keep going?” he asks impishly, Kageyama looking up at him, half amused and half aroused. He reaches his neck up, drawing Hinata into a prolonged kiss, sucking at his swollen lips.

                He moans when he feels that Hinata’s hard, struggling not to rut himself into one of Kageyama’s legs. Hinata wants this. Judging by the slightly moist patch starting to form in his own pants, he’s pretty sure he wants this too. He arches his hips up a bit, letting Hinata feel his own arousal, prompting the boy to slide off of Kageyama’s lap and take two steps back. Not sure what’s  happening, Kageyama almost melts when Hinata hooks his thumbs under his waistband, pulling his pants down to the floor and stepping out of them, leaving him in nothing but underwear. Near see through underwear, Kageyama might add.

                He doesn’t know where he buys his underwear from, but the fabric’s so thin it may as well not be there. Although Hinata’s clearly straining cock clearly disagrees, stretching the already thin cloth even more as it tries to escape its confines. Kageyama can feel himself salivating as he notices the wet patch on Hinata’s underwear too, a generous amount already seeping through near the tip. A small patch of ginger hair is just visible as well, seemingly the cherry on top of what is _definitely_ the most seductive thing he’s ever seen.

                Looking at... that, Kageyama can’t help but feel a little uncomfortable. He struggled to quash his own feelings of self-doubt – Hinata told him he was beautiful too, he wouldn’t lie. When Hinata stepped forward tentatively, Kageyama took his moment of confidence to reach out and grope at Hinata’s barely contained cock. Hinata moaned loudly, unable to resist grinding himself into Kageyama’s cupped hand, revelling in the friction. Kageyama couldn’t help but notice the heat, it was like Hinata had a red hot poker in his underwear, it was hard and hot and it made Kageyama feel the same.

                “Unfair,” Hinata whines, as Kageyama began firmly massaging Hinata’s cock where he stands, reaching out to hook his thumbs around Kageyama’s own waistband. Lifting himself off the bed slightly so Hinata can take them off, he’s unprepared for when suddenly both his pants and his underwear are gone, erect cock, springing up boldly, twitching excitedly with the exposure. Taking advantage of Kageyama’s surprise, Hinata extricates himself from Kageyama’s palm, kneeling down between his spread legs before slowly licking a single stripe up the entire underside of Kageyama’s cock, causing him to release of deep groan of pleasure.

                Looking up at him impishly, Hinata continues to lick up and down Kageyama’s cock, as if it were on of his Gari Gari Kun popsicles. Kageyama can barely think it feels so good, the way Hinata looks up at him with a look which screams both innocence and mischief at the same time somehow enhancing it even more. He can feel quivering near the base of his cock, feeling his orgasm approach. He thinks to warn Hinata, lest he cum all over him, but the image of that alone is enough to send Kageyama over the edge, shooting spurts of hot cum over Hinata’s startled face. After recovering from his shock, Hinata just grins, slowly running his tongue around the head of Kageyama’s cock, lapping at the last few dribbles of cum leaking out of his slowly softening cock.

                “S-sorry,” Kageyama manages, barely able to speak after the orgasm that just shuddered through is whole body, “I was going to-“ Hinata silences him with a finger to his lips.

                “My turn,” Hinata stated calmly, cum still trickling slowly down his cheek. He climbs back up onto the bed, lying on his back and opening his legs slightly, giving Kageyama a prime view of the wet patch on his straining underwear that has only grown since before. Kageyama crawls over, lying on his stomach so his head is positioned between Hinata’s legs, hovering just above his clothed cock. He pulls down the waistband of the underwear just enough for it to finally spring free, almost hitting Kageyama in the face. Looking at it curiously, Kageyama slowly starts licking and sucking at the head, trying to emulate what Hinata did before.

                Hinata seems to be enjoying himself, but Kageyama wants more. He remembers something he saw once when he was looking for Sugawara’s old volleyball gear. There’d been a couple of porn magazines stashed in the back of his closet, and Kageyama hadn’t been able to resist flicking through them under the bed covers for the following nights. Pulling down Hinata’s underwear more, freeing one leg completely and leaving the underwear hanging around one of Hinata’s ankles. Rather than continuing to lap at Hinata’s cock however, he resorts to jacking the cock gently with his hand, spit and precum enough to make it slick. He moves a little further down, surprising the boy when his tongue tentatively pokes between the base of his two ass cheeks, feeling around for something.

                When he finds what he’s looking for, he earns a long moan from Hinata, looking up at him questioningly as his tongue continues to explore the crevice. He sees Hinata’s face all red, eyes blown, nodding vehemently to the question in  his own eyes. With that, Kageyama uses his free hand to spread Hinata’s legs a little more, giving him better access as he continues to eat out the boy. He experiments, alternating between sweeping over the twitching hole with a flattened tongue and occasionally pushing the tip of his tongue in, penetrating him slightly. The feeling of Hinata’s muscle clinging down on his tongue, as if trying to draw him in further, to reach deeper, taste more, is intoxicating. He starts twisting his tongue as he begins to prod more and more, getting in a little deeper each time, all while pumping Hinata’s slippery cock with his hand.

                It doesn’t take long for Hinata to cum, ass clenching deliciously around Kageyama’s tongue as he shoots streaks of molten white across his stomach and chest, the last of it dribbling down over Kageyama’s hand which is still pumping away as Hinata’s orgasm works itself through. Looking up at the dazed Hinata, covered both body and face in cum, Kageyama wanders over to the bathroom across the hall, grabbing the first towel he sees and returning to wipe down Hinata.

                When he returns though, Hinata is already hard again, mirroring himself after the blissful experience that was tongue fucking Hinata to climax.

                “Do you, uh, want to do anything else?” Hinata asked tentatively, not sure if they should just keep going as before or try something new. He sits up next to Kageyama, who’s now lying next to him in bed while the boy thinks. Kageyama shuffles up the bed a bit, parting his legs in a similar way to Hinata before, unable to not feel a little bit good about himself when he notices Hinata’s inability to look away.

                “I was wondering, if, uh...” Kageyama blushes, Hinata wondering how he can still be so embarrassed after what they’d just done, “If you wanted to... put it in?” Kageyama hides his face behind his hands, unable to believe what he’s just said. He flinched in surprise when he feels Hinata’s small, wet tongue lapping at his entrance, his legs still parted in invitation. He figures maybe he asked too much, maybe Hinata doesn’t want _that_ , so he’s just continuing as before. He’s not complaining though as he feels the warm, moist muscle circling his sensitive hole. He wasn’t expecting the sudden finger prodding alongside it, rubbing at the entrance, slowly trying to tease its way in.

                “I gotta open you up first, right?” Hinata asks cheekily, choosing that moment to slip his index finger past the ring of muscle. Kageyama gasps, squirming as he feels the finger wriggle around inside him a little, only to be withdrawn. Finger is soon replaced with tongue again as Hinata drapes his hand up towards Kageyama’s mouth, rubbing his fingertips against his lips. Kageyama lets them in, suckling them and running his tongue around them, moaning all the while as Hinata continues to fuck him again and again with his own tongue.

                Hinata soon withdraws his fingers, using the digits, slick with saliva, to push gently into Kageyama one by one, stretching and scissoring him agonisingly slowly. His cock has been so far ignored, rolling around on his stomach, aching in desperation to be touched as it leaks a steady stream of precum, but Hinata is focused on his ass, fucking him now with his fingers, occasionally licking around the entrance as well.

                Both far too soon and nowhere near fast enough, Hinata pulls out all his fingers, Kageyama whining in want as he feels Hinata move up, lining his dripping cock up with his quivering entrance, eager to swallow down Hinata’s rock hard member. Hinata tentatively pushes the head past the ring of muscle, Kageyama groaning, feeling a slight twinge of pain but mostly just pleasure. Both of them continue to moan as Hinata pushes all the way in, vibrating as he tries to hold back from jack hammering into the tight wet hole. Kageyama can’t help but wish he would, already incredibly aroused from the knowledge alone that Hinata was inside him. That thing he could feel, pushed up into him, was Hinata.

                Slowly, Hinata began rocking back and forth, picking up speed until he reached a steady rhythm, thrusting his cock in and out of Kageyama’s hole, sucking it further in with every thrust, wanting it deeper, harder, faster. Hinata leaned forward, supporting arms either side of Kageyama’s chest as he rutted into the boy, lewd squelching coming from where he was fucking into him. Hinata’s breathing became shallower, as Kageyama’s moans rose in pitch.

                Kageyama came first, cock untouched, spurting up between them as his ass gripped down on Hinata’s cock, still thrusting in and out more eager than ever, rubbing him, milking him, wanting more. That pushed Hinata over the edge as well, pulling out of Kageyama and jacking off the last few thrusts with his hand, cumming all over Kageyama, mingling their semen together as Kageyama’s hole still twitched greedily while his cock continued to dribble cum.

                After that the two of them were spent, this time Kageyama the one being wiped off with the towel. Their clothes were all over the room. Those, the towel, the sheets, not to mention themselves, all needed to be washed. But the Sugawara’s weren’t back until Monday, and Hinata was already set up to stay the night, so the two of them couldn’t find to motivation to move. Instead, they opted to fall asleep together, naked in Kageyama’s bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, if you don't already know - the sequel/companion story to What Did I Do has started! It is part 2 of this series (Sad Setter Stories, I know, really creative. It does however leave me open to even more stories in future though *wink*)


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